Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential
by BraveVesperia
Summary: Hinata always felt like a failure, unable to unlock her clans dojutsu she had almost given up hope. Then one day she unlocked a new ability that would let her climb her way up to the top of the ninja world.
1. Chapter 1

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

 **Edit: 28/12/15 Changed a few things including how quests look and Hinata's exp to next level as well as adding an agility stat. If people notice any inconsistencies because of changes let me know.**

"Okay class pay attention this stuff is likely to come up on your graduation exams tomorrow. I know your all tired and want to go home but any extra knowledge you can accumulate can be the difference between success and failure" said Iruka as he peered over the class.

Looking around the classroom Hinata could see varying degrees of responses from her peers. Shikamaru was sleeping on the desk whilst Choji was eating a packet of crisps next to him. Kiba meanwhile was attempting to get Akamaru to pee on the sleeping Nara's head.

Shino was diligently making notes on the lecture whilst trying to ignore the bickering coming from Ino and Sakura near him who appeared to be having another match for Sasuke's affection, whilst the boy in question looked like he wanted to shove a rusty kunai into his eye.

Hinata never got the fascination that all the girls had with Sasuke, yes from a certain angle she supposed he could look handsome, well as handsome as someone with hair like a ducks behind could look anyway. But his personality left a lot to be desired, oh she certainly sympathized with the boy after he lost his clan, but it was no excuse to treat everyone with such disdain, especially after many of the villagers seemed to hand him praise on a silver platter.

If she had to admit it she was jealous, no matter how hard she tried her family would not acknowledge her. She was not daft; she heard the mutterings about marrying her off and instating Hanabi as heiress. No matter how hard she tried she tried she just could not seem to get the clans **Juken (Gentle Fist)** it was if something just would not click in her brain. She would practice the katas over and over to no avail, heck she was more proficient in the academy Taijutsu style.

Shaking her head out of these negative thoughts her eyes wandered to the boy sitting by the window. His sun kissed blonde hair and cute little whisker marks sent her heart all aflutter.

"Naruto-kun" Hinata said softly as she felt her cheeks warm up.

Uzumaki Naruto, ever since that day years ago when he saved her from those bullies Hinata had developed a fascination with the boy. It started with seeing him around the village and being too shy to walk up and say thank you. Eventually she developed the hobby of Naruto watching, she would stal- observe him around the village and she was fascinated by what she saw.

The boy never seemed to give up, often she would go home on the verge of tears at seeing how the villagers treated him but only once did she ever see him cry. Most of the time he would pick himself up show off that brilliant smile and keep going.

It was only after she had gotten a bit older that she noticed the pain lurking behind those wide smiles that never reached his eyes. Naruto was so strong, to keep going in the face of an entire villages scorn when she was about to crumble just from the expectations of her own clan.

"Naruto-kun you're really amazing" Hinata said fondly.

Her musing was interrupted when Iruka-sensei yelled at Kiba for his prank on Shikamaru, once more diverting the attention of the class back onto him.

"Ok class just ten more minutes then you can go home for the day, the last thing we will be covering is **Kekai Genkai (Bloodline Limit).** Now who can tell me what a Kekai Genkai is?" Iruka asked.

Several hands went up but eventually Iruka called on Sakura.

"Yes Sakura" Said Iruka.

"A Kekai Genkai is an ability passed down genetically within a clan like the Sharingan" Said Sakura whilst looking at a certain Uchiha with Hunger in her eyes.

"That's correct Sakura well done, now can anyone tell me how a Kekai Genkai develops?" Iruka said.

This time most of the class was silent with nobody raising their hands.

"Anyone?" queried Iruka.

Looking around the class once more a deep sigh was let out "troublesome"

"A Kekai Genkai develops due a genetic mutation over the course of several generations. The mutated gene can have a variety of effects which is why there are so many different Kekai Genkai. As it is a genetic trait the new gene is often not passed down as is the case with a lot of first generation Kekai Genkai. This can be seen with the Shodai Hokage Mokuton, it was a recessive gene which is why Tsunade-sama does not possess it" Said Shikamaru in a lazy drawl.

"Thank you Shikamaru, very thorough. One other piece of information to keep in mind is while it does not happen often Kekai Genkai can also change through the generations developing new skills or becoming something else entirely" Iruka finished.

This got Hinata thinking, was that the reason she had yet to activate her Byakugan? Did she somehow receive a recessive or faulty version of the gene? Most Hyuga activated theirs by their eighth birthday; she was twelve and still had not.

As she considered this bell rang signalling the end of class for that, this was followed by a yell of satisfaction from Naruto as he bolted out of the door.

Hinata shook her head at his exuberance and decided to go home and prep for her test tomorrow.

* * *

Sunlight began to stream through her window gently nudging Hinata from her dreams.

"Mmmm Naru-kun stop what if Tou-sama spots us" Hinata mumbled with a giggle as somehow she shocked herself awake by fainting in her own dream.

Hinata sat bolt upright whilst trying to get her furious blush under control. Today's dream had been racy even for her so she took a few moments to have a deep breath. Her ... unusual dreams had been happening for the last couple of weeks ever since she saw Naruto all sweaty and gleaming after one of his long training sessions.

After getting herself composed Hinata looked up and noticed a bright blue box floating in the air in front of her.

Confused for a moment she brought her hands up in to a hand seal and flooded her body with chakra "Kai!" she shouted as she attempted to dispel the genjutsu.

One thing she actually was adept at was detecting and dispelling genjutsu even without her Byakugan, this was mostly thanks to Kurenai nee-chan.

"W-what that's not a genjutsu?" Hinata queried.

Her senses no longer dulled from sleep Hinata inspected the blue box more carefully it read.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **The Gamer**

 **Tutorial Y/N**

"T-the gamer" Hinata stuttered unsure of what to make of this as it was unlike any genjutsu she had ever encountered.

Cautiously she edged a finger closer and noticed the box was solid.

 **Incorrect input**

Hinata was startled as the box responded to her touch; did she have to select one of the two options?

Carefully she pressed the yes button as she waited for something to happen.

 **Name: Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir**

 **Level: 6** **Exp to next level 500/800**

 **The Gamer is an advanced Space/Reality Kekai Genkai, by tapping into the consciousness of the world it allows the user to enforce their perception onto reality to a limited extent (further information must be acquired via in universe actions).**

 **The Gamer ability will allow one to drastically alter their own physical and mental abilities at a much greater rate than standard training.**

 **The Gamer Ability is only visible to the user or those that the user has formed a party with (Party ability locked until level 20).**

 **The Gamer ability allows for Dynamic skill and Jutsu creation.**

 **Command inputs: Status, Perks, Skills, Reputation, Inventory.**

 **The Gamer Ability allows for in depth character growth and advancement. Thus ends the basic tutorial, advanced tutorials unlock in required circumstances.**

Hinata could only look on with her mouth open in an extremely un-Hyuga like expression.

"Space/Reality Kekai Genkai?" she questioned.

Of course everyone heard how the Yondaime Hokage's signature move the Hiraishin was a space time ninjutsu but she had never heard of a Move that could affect reality. However this may explain why she had yet to unlock the Byakugan, maybe she couldn't.

Hinata was conscious that she had to get to the academy soon or she would miss the opportunity to become a genin, her mysterious bloodline would have to wait.

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **Quest: Get the academy on time.**

 **Rewards:**

 **125 Exp**

 **Increased reputation with Konoha Shinobi.**

 **Y/N**

Seeing the message Hinata pressed yes, she figured she may as well go all in and it was not like she was planning to be late or anything.

* * *

Hinata arrived at the academy with plenty of time to spare and quickly got to her seat. The only other ones there at this time were Sasuke, Shino and surprisingly Shikamaru.

 **Quest Completed**

 **Reward:**

 **125 Exp**

 **20 Reputation with Konoha Shinobi.**

Well that was something, she was not sure exactly what XP was used for but she hazarded a guess from what she heard Naruto and Kiba talking about that once she got enough she would level up?

Looking around the class something strange happened there were boxes above the heads of her classmates.

 **Uchiha Sasuke:** **Level 12**

 **Aburame Shino: Level 10**

 **Nara Shikamaru : Level 9**

 **A Special Skill Has been created through a special act.**

 **Observe**

 **Level: 1**

"This must be that dynamic skill creation" Hinata thought.

 **Uchiha Sasuke**

 **Level: 12**

 **Sasuke is the last Uchiha Loyal to Konoha, his family was brutally murdered by his older brother Itachi leaving behind several mental scars on his younger brother. As a result Sasuke is only interested in getting stronger.**

 **Aburame Shino**

 **Level: 10**

 **Shino is the clan Heir to the Aburame family. Shino is often very quiet as it is a little known fact that strong visible emotion agitates his hive.**

 **Nara Shikamaru**

 **Level: 9**

 **Shikamaru is the heir to the Nara clan and like his father possesses a genius level intellect. However like his father he is often too lazy to put that tactical mind to use.**

 **Obseves Level has risen by 1.**

As Hinata was going over this new discovery the rest of her classmates had arrived.

"Ok class today to begin we will be doing the written test, this will be followed by the obstacle course, weapons test and sparing. Finally we will have you perform the academy jutsu. You all have thirty minutes begin.

Hinata looked down at her test paper and sighed in relief, she could do this; she may not be as smart as Sakura or Shikamaru but this should not be a problem.

 **New quest alert**

 **Pass the test**

 **Bonus objective: score more than 80%**

 **Bonus objective: score more than 90%**

 **Reward: 150 Exp per objective completed.**

Hinata buckled down to complete the test, most of the questions were easy but a few of the later ones were becoming more difficult.

Question 18: at the end of the second shinobi world war which group of shinobi were responsible for the death of the Nidaime Hokage.

This was a tough one; honestly she was not sure what the answer was.

"Think Hinata, I need to slowly work to the answer. Ok in that war our main aggressor was Kumo so it stands to reason that it was a Kumo shinobi. Now who were the main players in Kumo at the time, I know it was not the Raikage so that leaves... I know the gold and silver brothers" Hinata thought to herself as she jotted her answer down.

 **For thinking through a problem wisdom has gone up by 1.**

So she could earn points by doing tasks a certain way, interesting.

Ten minutes later the test was over.

"Okay class ten minutes then we move onto the next test" Said Iruka.

Using this Time Hinata went off and found a quiet corner, now was a good time to learn more about her ability.

"Status" Hinata said quietly.

 **Name: Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Level: 6 Exp to next level 625/800**

 **HP: 140**

 **CP: 150**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 17**

 **Agility: 5**

 **Vitality: 4**

 **Intelligence: 5**

 **Wisdom: 8**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 0**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 0**

Overall Hinata did not think that was too bad, she was sad to see that she had a penalty to her Juken but she knew about her shyness. What did intrigue her was that question mark skill.

"Ok Class gather round for the obstacle course" shouted Iruka.

Walking over Hinata could not help but observe a few more classmates.

 **Haruno Sakura**

 **Level: 5**

 **Sakura is from a civilian family and as such did not have any prior shinobi training. Sakura is very book smart and has intelligence only a few degrees less than a Nara. She is held back by a fangirl mentality.**

 **Yamanaka Ino**

 **Level: 5**

 **Ino is heir to the Yamanaka clan, she is a bit vain and cares a lot about her appearance but underneath the fangirl is a shrewd mind and keen information gatherer.**

 **Inuzuka Kiba**

 **Level: 8**

 **Second in line to head the Inuzuka clan after his sister, Kiba is brash and loud but wears his heart on his sleeve. If he cares about you he would move mountains for you.**

 **Akamichi Chouji**

 **Level: 7**

 **Chouji is clan heir to the Akamichi and is a gentle giant that is loath to hurt anyone, except if you mention the f word he is big bonded damn it.**

 **Observe's level has risen by 1**

"Ok class it's the obstacle course, the record time is 1:23 and a passing time is 3:00 please make a line" said Iruka.

 **New Quest Created** **\- Race for the finish**

 **Quest: Pass the test**

 **Bonus Objective: Pass in under 2:00**

 **Bonus objective: New academy record**

 **Reward: 100 Exp**

 **Bonus Reward 1: 150 Exp**

 **Bonus Reward 2: 200 Exp**

So far the time to beat was set by Naruto, who was extraordinarily good at obstacle courses due to outrunning Anbu Patrols; his time was 1:53.

"Okay Next up Hinata" Said Iruka.

Hinata readied herself at the starting line and burst forward with a spurt of speed ducking underneath a volley of Kunai from an automated cannon. She quickly jumped into the air to land on a suspension bridge and used her natural balance and poise to make it across quickly. The next obstacle was a climbing wall that took its toll on her due to her low strength and finally a dash to the finish.

"Not Bad Hinata 2:01 your first half was great but i think you need to work on your strength and stamina"

"Yes Sensei" Hinata said as she tried to regain her breath.

 **Quest completed**

Hinata quickly pushed the accept button as she was too winded to pay attention right now.

XXXXXX

The weapons test went well as Hinata scored a 7 out of ten placing at second for the girls with Sakura coming top with 8.

Over by the boys Sasuke scored a perfect 10 causing the rest of the girls to go crazy whilst naruto also scored a 7.

"Congratulations Naruto-kun" Hinata thought to herself with a pleased smile on her face.

She received another 75 Exp for that test which meant the last thing up was a spar against the teachers.

 **Uzumaki Naruto**

 **Level: 6**

 **Naruto is an enigma, not much is known about his past or his family but for some reason most of Konoha seems to hate him.**

 **NEW QUEST CREATED- reason for scorn**

 **Find out why the villagers hate Naruto.**

 **Bonus Objective: Confront Naruto with the truth.**

 **Reward: 8000 Exp,**

 **Bonus Reward: ?**

 **Bonus Reward: ?**

 **Y/N**

To Hinata this was not even a question she pressed yes and was determined to find out the answer to this quest.

Hinata watched as Naruto had his match against Mizuki sensei. Mizuki seemed to be much more brutal against Naruto than the others which made Hinata frown; the man seemed to target joints and other areas that could cause lasting damage.

 **By calmly analysing an opponent Intelligence has gone up by 1**

"Okay Hinata your up you need to land three hits" Said Iruka.

 **NEW QUEST CREATED – Avenge your Man**

 **Don't just land three Hits defeat Mizuki**

 **Reward:**

 **600 Exp**

 **+50 Reputation with Naruto.**

 **Y/N**

Before she could even think she had pressed the yes button, let it be said that Hinata was not quick to anger; she was one of the most forgiving people around. However for years she had watched people step on Naruto and while she may not have the courage to talk to him she could at least do this for him.

Stepping into the ring Hinata adopted not a Juken stance but that of the academy Taijutsu style. Mizuki had a condescending smile on his face as he knew that little Hinata did not have much bite in spars and so he dropped his guard slightly.

 **Mizuki**

 **Level: 20**

 **Mizuki is a teacher at the academy and an adult that harbors resentment towards Uzumaki Naruto. Not able to cut it in the field Mizuki chose to teach at the academy.**

 **Observe's level has increased by 1**

Seeing that gap Hinata rocketed forward with a punch directed at Mizuki's solar plexus. Even with his guard down Mizuki was still a Chunin and blocked the strike but it did put him off balance.

Using the momentum of her strike Hinata kept going and pivoted on one foot spinning round his guard and delivering an elbow to his kidney.

"Good job Hinata that's one stri-" Iruka tried to say as Hinata kept going launching a flurry of strikes against the dazed Chunin.

Normally Mizuki would have been able to block this but his surprise at seeing little Hinata attack so viciously allowed several blows to slip through his guard pushing him to the edge of the ring.

Hinata jumped back briefly creating some space before rocketing forward once more and leaping in the air to deliver a devastating roundhouse kick to the Chunin's nose with a sickening crunch.

 **Academy Taijutsu increases by 1**

 **Academy Taijutsu Max**

Like a puppet with its strings cut Mizuki Crumpled to the floor, blood pooling from his face.

Hinata Landed after her kick and looked around to see the shocked looks of her classmates who all had their jaws on the floor.

"Wow who knew Hinata was such a bad ass" said Naruto.

 **Reputation with Uzumaki Naruto increased by 100.**

 **Quest Compl-**

"Eeep" was the last thing Hinata said before what felt like all the blood in her body rushed to her head and she passed out.

* * *

Hinata woke up some time later to find an empty classroom save for Iruka who was grading some papers.

"Ah Hinata your awake, the others have already had their tests so we are just waiting on you. Congratulations by the way you scored 91% on your written test" said Iruka

 **Quest Completed**

 **Reward: 150 Exp**

 **Bonus 1: 150 Exp**

 **Bonus 2: 150 Exp**

"Thank you Sensei , um d-did Naruto-kun pass?" Hinata stuttered.

Iruka frowned and Hinata's heart sunk.

"I'm sorry Hinata but he failed the Bushin portion of the test."

To say Hinata was disappointed was like saying Naruto only liked Ramen, she was crushed. She had hoped against hope that they could have ended up on the same team so that she could have spent more time with him and gotten over her shyness.

"No Naruto-kun never gives up so neither should I" she thought with determination.

"Iruka-sensei its Naruto's dream to become Hokage so he won't let this stop him. Its my job to pass this test and become a genin so can we continue" Hinata said bowing politely to her Sensei.

Iruka could only chuckle at the faith the girl had in his favourite blonde, he only hoped Naruto would stop being so dense or the girl would get some more courage.

"Okay Hinata you know what to do can you please demonstrate the three academy jutsu"

* * *

She had done it she had finally done it; she was now Shinobi of Konoha. Her Konoha hitai-ate sat securely round her neck as she proudly walked through the Hyuga compound receiving smiles from the branch family members.

She stepped through the courtyard to see her father and her Sister Hanabi sparing.

 **Hyuga Hiashi**

 **Level: ?**

 **Hiashi is the father of Hinata and Hanabi, since his wife died he has become much colder and stricter especially with his eldest.**

 **Hyuga Hanabi**

 **Level: 8**

 **Hanabi is a rising star within the main family and is thought to have more potential than her elder sister.**

 **HP: 200**

 **CP: 150**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 15**

 **Agility: 7**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 5**

 **Wisdom: 10**

 **Charisma: 10**

Hinata's feeling of elation dropped off rather quickly at seeing her sisters stats, she guessed her observe had levelled enough to provide new information.

Hanabi was several years younger and was already stronger than her. She loved her sister and was glad she was succeeding but in the pit of her stomach she felt like every time her father had called her a failure was validated.

"otou-sama" Hinata said politely in greeting to her father.

"Hinata, I see you have passed as expected, but why are you late?" said Hiashi

"I-I f-fainted after one of the academy exams" said Hinata.

"Disgraceful, not only do you continue to stutter you disgrace yourself in front of your peers, go to your room and reflect on your attitude, team assignments are tomorrow and I will not have you embarrassing me" Hiashi said in a steely tone.

"Yes otou-sama"

* * *

Back in her room Hinata was depressed that even though she succeeded it still was not enough for her father.

She was wallowing in self pity when it clicked she had exactly the tool to make herself stronger.

"Status"

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir ( Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 15/1152**

 **HP: 140**

 **CP: 160**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 21**

 **Agility: 5**

 **Vitality: 4**

 **Intelligence: 6**

 **Wisdom: 9**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status : **

**Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 10**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 0**

Her Gamer Ability, with this hopefully she could become stronger but first she needed to know how it worked.

First she tried clicking on each option.

 **Strength: How much physical damage you can distribute, as well as other strength related feats such as throwing, climbing, swimming etc.**

 **Dexterity: dexterity effects how nimble and agile you are, also effecting aim and precision.**

 **Agility: agility affects how quickly you move your body, agility effects running speeds as well as other physical factors.**

 **Vitality: Vitality affects your stamina and how much punishment you can take, each point in vitality is worth 10 HP.**

 **Intelligence: This effects how much information you can retain and overall intelligence, each point of intelligence is worth 10 CP.**

 **Wisdom: Wisdom affects your chakra control; higher wisdom opens new avenues such as genjutsu or Iryo Ninjutsu.**

 **Charisma: Charisma affects your ability to lead and influence people. With high enough Charisma people will gravitate towards you as well as having other useful benefits.**

Looking at her stats Hinata decided not to place any points in Dexterity as her Flexible joints status gave her an additional two per level, for now she noticed her chakra capacity was a bit low so she should put points in intelligence and Vitality was a must as she got very tired in the obstacle course, for now that was her best option.

 **For wisely considering your future development wisdom has increased by 1.**

That still left this perk whatever that was.

 **Perks are bonuses that are achieved every 5 levels or through certain special actions or quests.**

"Perks" Hinata said.

 **Perk Menu**

 **Available Perks**

 **Byakugan- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Water- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Wind- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Fire- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Earth- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Lightning- 1 point**

 **Additional Perks Unavailable at this time.**

Hinata knew immediately where she would spend her points.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 15/1152**

 **HP: 200**

 **CP: 200**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 21**

 **Agility: 5**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 10**

 **Wisdom: 9**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 0**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 0**

Bringing her Vitality and Intelligence up to 10 Hinata felt her body become flush as he muscles writhed underneath her skin, she could feel herself becoming fitter and her mind sharper.

"Wow this really does work" she said.

" **Byakugan"** she cried as she channelled chakra to her eyes. The veins surrounding her eyes bulged and she felt her vision sharpen as she could see 355 degrees round her for about 50 meters each way.

This caused Hinata to cry out in joy as she shed happy tears, she finally had her Byakugan and it was glorious.

"Skills" Hinata said

 **Gamers Body Max**

Grants the User a body that functions like a game. After sleep in a bed restore Hp, Cp and any abnormal status effect.

 **Academy style Taijutsu Level: 20 Max**

Passively increases taijutsu damage 20%

 **Weapons Kunai and Shuriken Level: 17**

Passively increases Kunai and shuriken damage by 17%

 **Stealth level: 11**

Passively increases stealth by 11%

 **Observe** **Level: 5**

Through constant observation information may be gathered about an object or person. Information received is level dependant.

 **Jutsu**

 **Kawarimi Level: Max**

 **Bushin Level: Max**

 **Henge: Level Max**

 **Byakugan: Level 1**

Active: when active increase sight by 20% in clarity and enables user to see 50 metres. Will notice Genjutsu 50% of the time and will see through it 30% of the time.

Hinata spent the next few minutes carefully going over each skill; she noticed that if she levelled her Byakugan up enough she could become effectively immune to genjutsu. Her Gamers body was also a boon as she did not have a huge amount of chakra if she could get it back after a rest on a long mission, it would vastly increase her combat potential.

As she was scrolling down she accidentally clicked on Academy style Taijutsu which prompted another menu.

 **Skill maxed would you like to evolve skill?**

 **Y/N**

Curious as to what this option was Hinata picked yes.

 **Options: Juken.**

 **You have insufficient knowledge for any other style at present.**

Juken, it was actually letting her pick Juken!

Hinata rapidly mashed the option afraid it would disappear.

 **You have selected Juken, Academy style taijutsu will be deleted, and do you wish to continue?**

 **Y/N**

Hinata hit yes without a second though.

All of a sudden her mind felt hazy and the knowledge she spent the last few years accumulating felt muddled. She still remembered it but it was like watching someone else do it rather than having learnt it yourself, like watching the stunts in one of those princess gale movies.

 **Juken Level: 1**

Passively increases dex by 1%

Passively increases Wis by 1%

Finally, after every time she had failed. After every time she had forced herself back up again it was like the universe was rewarding her effort.

"Perhaps now Tou-sama won't see me as such a failure" Hinata said with a small smile gracing her face.

Suddenly she felt very tired, the stress from the tests today as well as the emotional turmoil from finally unlocking her Byakugan seemed to have taken a toll on her. After getting changed into her rabbit onsies she snuggled deep into her bed sheets and drifted to sleep.

"I wonder who is going to be on my team tomorrow" was her last thought before drifting off.

 **Authors note**

 **Hi everyone, if this is my first story you have read welcome. If not your probably thinking "Hey you lazy bum why have you not updated Fate/Another?" well the answer to that is I have been stupidly busy with work and have not had the energy.**

 **Currently I am in the process of interviewing for a new job that if i get will mean more money and less working hours so I should have more time to write and I can get back to a regular update schedule.**

 **As it stands I am working on the last chapter to end the first arc of fate another and its going to be a long one 10-15k words so expect that within the next 2 weeks.**

 **As For this story, this is something I wrote yesterday as a bit of a pallet cleanser as I wanted to write something not Fate/Stay night to get the creative juices flowing and I thought may as well upload it and see what people think.**

 **This story is not a priority but if people like it I will try to upload it more regularly as it was fun to write. Also there are not many gamer story's and all of them star Naruto so I thought why not do something different and so i decided to use Hinata (though admittedly ten-ten could have been fun). This way we don't run into the problem of being broken out of the gates due to shadow clones and it allows me to explore aspects of the plot away from what team 7 are doing.**

 **Anyway if you liked this please review, it lets me know what i need to improve and honestly i like feedback. Also if you like this site then honestly I encourage you to review more you are getting free entertainment so what's the harm in spending 30 seconds to write a review, and it does make authors want to update faster as well.**

 **If you liked this please also check out my other story, and if this gets a good response I will try to have another chapter done around the same time as I post the next chapter of Fate/Another.**

 **Thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

 **You have awakened HP and CP restored**

Sunlight began to stream through the open window causing Hinata to snuggle even deeper into her quilts, bed was lovely and warm and she did not want to leave it. Slowly she cracked open an eyelid but immediately shut it as the light hurt her vision. Her eyes seemed to be a bit more sensitive than normal and she could also feel a small drain on her chakra system.

It took a moment but it looked like she had subconsciously activated her Byakugan.

"Status"

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 15/1152**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **CP: 195/200**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 21**

 **Agility: 5**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 10**

 **Wisdom: 9**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 0**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 0**

Hinata noticed that her chakra pool had decreased due to her Byakugan being active, after navigating to her skills menu she noticed that in her excitement yesterday she had missed something very important.

 **Byakugan: Level 1**

Active: when active increase sight by 20% in clarity and enables user to see 50 metres. Will notice Genjutsu 50% of the time and will see through it 30% of the time.

Cost 5 CP per minute active.

That meant at her current level if she did not expend any chakra she could keep hey Byakugan active for 40 minutes.

This was something she should not have overlooked and she mentally berated herself.

"I'm a genin now what if I had run out of Chakra in a mission because I did not notice" Hinata thought.

Noticing she still had some time before she needed to go to the academy she decided to at least get a firmer grip on the basics, not enough time to look at the extra menus yet but time enough for this.

 **Kawarimi Level: Max**

Cost 10 CP per use.

 **Bushin Level: Max**

Cost 10 CP Per Bushin created

 **Henge: Level Max**

Cost 5 CP per minute used.

Currently she did not have any other Jutsu so she decided to check how quickly she would recover. After clicking on CP she discovered that her Chakra would recover by 1% every 10 minutes for every 5 points of wisdom she had.

Hinata was kicking herself slightly as she was on wisdom 9 one more point and she would recover 2% every 10 minutes, health seemed to function the same but for Vitality.

She decided that from now on unless she really had to she would hold onto her points until she had more time to consider her options. She may have gotten a little over excited yesterday.

Still it was not all bad all in all she felt stronger than she did the day before, she just hoped she would not hold her team back. Thinking that made her start to feel depressed as she pressed her two index fingers together.

What if she froze during a mission, what if her sensei thought she was a failure? Thinking about all those bad things made Hinata start to feel nervous and she had the strong desire to just slink back under her covers, at least until she thought of a certain smiling face.

" _I'm going to be Hokage, the greatest Hokage this village has ever seen Dattebayo!_ _I don't go back on my word that's my Nindo!"_

"That's right Naruto-kun never gives up, how can I give up before I even become a genin" Hinata said with resolve before leaping to her feet and proudly stepping out of her room ready to go to the academy confidence radiating off her.

Hinata got to the front gate of the compound and was about to step out for her first day as a genin when one of the gate guards stopped her.

"Hinata-sama, forgive me for the intrusion but did you mean to leave the compound dressed in your pyjamas?"

"Eeeep" thud.

* * *

Having arrived at the academy Hinata took a seat at the very back of the classroom and performed the try and merge with the wall to avoid embarrassment no jutsu.

It was unsuccessful.

Many of her classmates just passed this off as Hinata being Hinata and gave it no further thought. She was saved from any prying looks by a commotion at the front of the classroom.

"Hey dead last this area is for genin only" Shouted Kiba.

"Check out the headband dog breath" Naruto said with a cocky smile whilst pointing at his Headband tied proudly to his forehead.

Hinata was ecstatic "Naruto-Kun graduated" she celebrated internally.

 **Uzumaki Naruto**

 **Level: 9**

 **Naruto is an enigma, not much is known about his past or his family but for some reason most of Konoha seems to hate him.**

 **HP: 700**

 **CP: 1030**

 **Strength: 10**

 **Dexterity: 10**

 **Agility: 15**

 **Vitality: 15**

 **Intelligence: 3**

 **Wisdom: 3**

 **Charisma: 4**

Hinata's eyes widened slightly "Naruto-kun has so much Chakra and health" she whispered.

Before she could consider this any further Iruka entered the classroom and shouted for everyone to be quiet. Hinata noticed that Iruka seemed injured and his stomach and back were wrapped in tape.

 **Umio Iruka**

 **Level: 27**

 **Iruka is a teacher at the Konoha Shinobi academy. Known for his professionalism he is a favourite amongst the students. He is often seen to have taken a special interest in Uzumaki Naruto.**

 **HP:** **150/300**

 **CP: 450**

 **Strength: 25**

 **Dexterity: 15**

 **Agility: 25**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 35**

 **Wisdom: 35**

 **Charisma: 20**

"I was right Iruka-sensei is only at half health"

 **Observe's level has increased by 1**

 **Through keen insight and an observational mind wisdom has increased by 1**

Unused to praise Hinata had to fight down a blush even if it was effectively giving praise to herself it still felt good.

"Okay quiet down class, Today all of you become Shinobi it has been my pleasure and my privilege to get you all this far. However this is only the first step, from now on you are all the lowest of the low; you are the grunts of the shinobi world. But even though you may start from the bottom I believe each and every one of you has the potential to become excellent Shinobi" Iruka said with pride.

"Now Team 1 will consist of….. Next up is team 7 which will consist of Uchiha sasuke"

Near to her she could see Sakura and Ino trying to mentally impose their will on Iruka-sensei, she even thought she saw Ino's hands twitch as if they wanted to make hand seals.

"Haruno Sakura"

"Chaaa suck it Ino-pig true love conquers all" shouted Sakura

"Nooo!" shouted Ino

"And finally Uzumaki Naruto"

"What/What!" shouted Naruto and Sakura.

"I have to be on a team with him" they both shouted.

Naruto turned to Sakura "why you gotta be so mean Sakura-chan?" he said sadly.

"Hn" Sasuke grunted.

"What was that Teme!" Naruto shouted as he jumped up and landed on Sasuke's desk and stared off with the boy.

"Get out of my face Dobe!" Sasuke snarled.

"Make me Teme!" replied Naruto.

"Go on Naruto kick his butt" yelled Kiba as he laughed his ass off next to the pair accidentally kicking the desk causing Naruto to lose balance.

Hinata was forced to watch in slow motion as Naruto staggered forward and his lips met with Sasuke's.

"No his first kiss!" wailed Sakura and Ino.

"blegh, phew phew" Naruto said making spitting noises. "I've been poisoned get the med ninja's".

"Your gonna need med Ninja's in a minute Naruto-baka!" Sakura yelled as she thumped Naruto on the head and began to beat him, swiftly being joined by Ino.

All of a sudden both girls froze as a primal and overwhelming fear crept up their spines.

 **A new skill has been created project Killing Intent.**

They both turned to face one Hinata Hyuga whose Byakugan eyes were blazing as she stared the two down before moving her gaze to Sasuke.

"Naruto-kun's first kiss" she murmured softly.

 **Project killing intents level has increased by 1**

 **Project killing intents level has increased by 1**

 **Project killing intents level has increased by 1**

Sasuke could barely resist the urge to cower back in fear and only his experiences during the Uchiha massacre prevented him from doing so.

Naruto only now getting himself back up from his beating looked around confused having missed the last few minutes only to see Sasuke rooted to his spot from the death glare Hinata was giving him.

"Wow I was right Hinata really is a badass" he said snapping Hinata out of her funk and causing her to glow bright red before promptly passing out.

"What was it something I said" Naruto replied causing Iruka to shake his head at his students obliviousness.

* * *

"And then she totally gave the Uchiha the death glare he looked like he wanted to piss himself right Akamaru!" Kiba laughed.

"Arf, arf" akamaru concurred.

"It was indeed very surprising" came the low and stoic voice of Shino.

Hinata returned to consciousness sat in a chair in what looked like the local Dango stand with Kiba boisterously talking on one side and Shino on the other.

"Ummm Shino-san, Kiba-san what are we doing here, I thought we had team selections?" Hinata wondered.

"Finally awake sleeping beauty?" Kiba said causing Hinata to once again blush crimson.

"Welcome back Hinata-san" said Shino.

"Umm why are we here again?"

"When you passed out our Sensei arrived to pick us up, we decided it would be prudent to reconvene at a different location whilst we waited for you to regain consciousness." Explained Shino.

"I see thank you both for that"

"No problem Hinata, though your face was priceless but I don't know why you don't just tell Nar- oof" Kiba said as Shino sharply stepped on his foot.

"Alright that's enough teasing your teammate Kiba" said another voice.

Having not noticed her until just now Hinata spotted Yuhi Kurenai sitting at the other end of the table drinking some tea.

"Kurenai nee-chan?" Hinata questioned.

"Nice to see you awake Hinata but from now on its Kurenai-Sensei while we are on the job at least." Smiled Kurenai.

Putting two and two together Hinata could not help a happy smile spreading on her face.

"Well at least it will be Kurenai-Sensei if you can all pass my test that is" Kurenai smiled smugly.

"Wait what test!" Shouted Kiba indignantly.

"I must agree Sensei, are we not officially your Genin team?" Questioned Shino.

"Yes and no Shino, all the academy did was assess if you have the right to try to become a Genin team it is still up to me as your Jounin Sensei to make the final call."

"What more could you need to know, Shino has his cool insects, Hinata just unlocked her Byakugan and I'm awesome!" bragged Kiba.

This caused Kurenai to widen her eyes ever so slightly, she was not aware Hinata had unlocked her Byakugan yet, that would make things slightly more difficult.

"I see well then I guess you will all have an easy time passing your test then" Kurenai smiled.

 **STORY QUEST CREATED**

 **Pass your sensei's test**

 **Reward: 300 Exp, Title Genin, Jounin teacher**

 **Secret Objective:?**

 **Secret Reward:?**

 **Failure: sent back to the academy**

 **Y**

"For now then why don't we all try to get to know each other a bit more" Kurenai said as she nodded her head towards the waiter.

"I'll start to give you an example, my name is Yuhi Kurenai my hobbies are swimming, playing the flute and researching Genjutsu. My likes include green tea and nice hot soaks in the hot spring, my dislikes include perverts, the white haired kind especially and people who think women can't make effective kunoichi. My dream for the future is to get married and have three kids" Kurenai finished.

"Kiba why don't you go next"

"Okay my name is Inuzuka Kiba, My hobbies are training with Akamaru, pottery and hunting"

"Pottery?" Kurenai questioned.

"What it's relaxing and I'm good with my hands! Anyway I like spending time with the pups in the kennels and pranking my sister. I dislike people who are cruel to animals. My dream for the future is to prove to the world how effective Inuzuka Ninken are in combat."

"Very good Kiba, you next Shino"

"My Name is Aburame Shino, My hobbies are finding ways to increase the effectiveness of my hive and researching new insects. My likes include black coffee and calligraphy, my dislikes include people who judge on face value, bees and honey. My dream for the future is to breed the ultimate insect"

"Thank you Shino, last up is you Hinata"

"Yes Sensei, umm my name is Hyuga Hinata, My Hobbies are flower pressing and knitting. I like cinnamon buns and my sister. My dislikes are bullies and those that are cruel and my dream for the future is to heal the rift in my family."

As Hinata was speaking the waitress delivered a plate of Dango and some tea. "Thank you all that was very informative now eat up then I'll tell you all about the test."

The newly christened team 8 started on their meal with gusto thoroughly enjoying the sweet treat.

 **A new skill has been created poison detection**

Hinata's eyes widened in shock as she threw her Dango to the floor and looked ready to warn her team when faster than she could track Kurenai's hands blured and lodged a senbon needle into all three Genin's necks.

"K-Kurenai Sensei?"

* * *

When Hinata felt herself regain consciousness she groggily opened her eyes to find herself tied to a tree, either side of her she found Kiba and Shino.

Just ahead of them she saw Kurenai-sensei talking to a man with dark skin wearing a Kumo Headband.

"As promised the Hyuga Clan heir, as well as two extras. I take it the Raikage will be pleased with these acquisitions?" said Kurenai.

"Yes you have done excellent work, your admittance to Kumo will be a given Konoha is on the downward slide, they never recovered after the Kyubi; you made the right choice." Said the man.

"K-kurenai Sensei what's going on" said Hinata.

"Ha ha ha ha, so your finally awake brat, well your sensei here has done you up good and proper. Sold you right down the river for a spot as a Kumo Shinobi"

"Shut up Sensei would never do that!" Kiba shouted.

"Ah genin they are adorable" the man said as he walked up behind Kurenai and slapped her arse.

"This one has been on the take for years funnelling us information and from what she has told me you are the sorriest excuse for a Hyuga she has ever set her eyes on" the Kumo shinobi said.

"Y-you're wrong" Hinata said fighting back tears.

"Oh, I'm wrong am I. Well then pardon me" he sneered

"Did you never wonder why a Jounin would take interest in the heiress nobody ever wanted? She was getting close to you all for this day. After the first failed attempt we realised we needed to be more…. Subtle in our approach"

"The Aburame and Inuzuka were just a bonus. Not as good but they will become fine breeding stock. You on the other hand will help populate a whole new clan for Kumo, if you're lucky I may even sample the goods… but then again that might just make your Sensei jealous" he roared in laughter.

"Raigo that's enough" Kurenai said "I'm not here to torture the kids I just want what's due to me lets go over there and discuss terms then move out".

None of this made sense to Hinata but at the very least she would try to gather some information about this new Kumo Nin, however when she tried to observe him nothing would come up.

"Fine, fine spoilsport" Raigo said.

As the two moved away Hinata could feel the tears she was holding back fall freely down her face. She felt violated on an emotional level Kurenai was the big sister she always wanted and was the only one to ever encourage her, to find out that was all fake was too much to bear.

She was so lost in her turmoil that she did not notice the insects that landed on her ropes and begin gnawing.

"Hinata-san please calm down, it is very distressing but we must focus on escape" said shino calmly, the only sign this was a façade was the frantic buzzing sound emanating from him.

Taking a deep breath Hinata tried to calm herself "Okay Shino I'm fine for now" Hinata said without really meaning it.

"Kiba-san can Akamaru gnaw his way free?" Shino asked due to kiba being on the opposite side of the tree.

"No they gaged him and I can't reach a Kunai" snarled Kiba upset his partner was bound.

"Hinata can you use your Byakugan to ascertain their location?" shino questioned.

Feeling slightly foolish for not realising earlier Hinata channelled Chakra to her eyes but suddenly found a shooting pain move through them.

"argh, there is something preventing me from using my eyes" Hinata cried in distress.

That had never happened before, the second she tried to channel chakra to her eyes the exploded in a searing pain, she could still channel chakra to the rest of her body but her doujutsu seemed to be cut off.

"In that case the best thing to do is to remain quiet whilst my insects chew through these ropes" Shino stated.

"Do we have any idea where we are?" asked Kiba.

"I am uncertain, it would appear we are not far from Konoha but the trees are obscuring the sun so I cannot be certain how long we have been unconscious for" stated Shino.

"Damn" growled Kiba who was beginning to get frustrated. "At least they have not come back yet I can still smell them over in the other clearing"

Not wanting to be a burden Hinata looked around the clearing to see if she could offer any further insight. The clearing they were in was fairly unremarkable save for some rather distinct blue lily's growing in the shade.

"Shino-san, Kiba-san I think I know where we are" Hinata whispered catching the attention of her two teammates.

"Those Lily's growing over there they are a plant native to the land of fire and like to grow in the Northern Konoha forest so we can't be more than 10 miles from the village"

After hearing this both of her teammates stilled "Your right" Kiba said as he began sniffing the air "its faint but I can still make out the smell of the village"

"Shino-san how long will it take your insects to chew through this rope?" Hinata asked.

"Around another minute" Shino replied getting his teammates to nod their heads in confirmation.

That minute seemed to drag on for eternity as team 8 hoped and prayed that their captors did not come back too soon. Eventually the ropes binding them went slack and team 8 shared a glance before they bolted from the clearing into the trees.

They continued bounding through the branches at a respectable speed but were forced to slow their pace so that Shino could keep up as he was not a physically inclined shinobi.

At the pace they were setting they could probably cover the 10 miles in 15-20 minutes depending on the terrain.

"Dam, damn it I can't believe sensei was a traitor. I mean we trusted her and she was just going to sell us to Kumo!" ranted Kiba.

"I mean that's sick, breeding stock. When we get back we need to get an anbu squad sent after her" he growled.

"Kiba-san please control your emotions you are not the only one who is suffering now" Shino said as he tilted his head to Hinata.

Hinata had been silent since their escape, her whole world had been turned upside down and she no longer knew what to think. This all felt wrong she had known Kurenai for years, she was sweet and loving and kind. It was impossible to rationalise her Kurenai nee-san with the woman in that clearing.

Then all of a sudden it clicked, maybe it was impossible.

"Status" Hinat said quietly.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Status effect: Doujutsu suppressant seal**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 15/1152**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **CP: 200/200**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 21**

 **Agility: 5**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 10**

 **Wisdom: 10**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status: **

**Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 0**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 0**

There it was a suppressant seal, it would have to be on her person somewhere so she stopped to find it.

Her teammates got a few yards ahead before they stopped having noticed Hinata was no longer with them.

"Hinata-san we need to hurry they could notice we are gone any moment now" replied Shino.

"One moment Shino-san there is a suppressant seal on me preventing me from using my Byakugan, just one moment I have almost… got it" Hinata said happily.

"Hinata-san I fail to see how this is important" Shino replied.

Hinata re-joined her teammates before her face settled into a determined look.

"It is important Shino-san because I think I have figured this out" Said Hinata.

"Figured what out Hinata?" asked Kiba.

"That this all makes no sense" she replied.

"Of course it makes no sense our sensei just betrayed us!" shouted Kiba

"No Kiba-san I mean it makes no sense" she reiterated.

"Just think about it Kurenai-sensei is one of the kindest people I have ever known and she would not do something like this." Hinata said.

"I understand you may be reluctant to believe this but clearly we did not know sensei as well as we thought" replied Shino.

"It's not just that!" Hinata retorted.

"Think about it she drugged us in the middle of Konoha in broad daylight, we are members of three prominent clans this would not go unnoticed" Hinata said causing a thoughtful expression to appear on Shino's face.

"She is a Jounin Hinata I'm sure she could get away with it" responded Kiba.

Hinata frowned "Even if we accept that your right she is a 'Jounin' and as such you would think she would be able to create a prison that three new Genin could not escape from so easily" Hinata said as she saw Shino's brows raise slightly in comprehension while Kiba appeared to have settled down to think.

"Not only that but my ability did not work on that Kumo in" Hinata thought to herself.

"Also what is Sensei's speciality?" Hinata questioned.

"Genjutsu?" Kiba responded.

"Genjutsu" Hinata confirmed.

"If this were a kidnaping there would have been no reason to seal my Byakugan as it would not have helped us escape….. However if this was a test; Byakugan!" Hinata yelled.

"You can come out now Kurenai Sensei" Hinata announced to the forest.

Clap, clap, clap.

"I have to say I am impressed I was prepared to pass you guys if you just escaped and made it back to the village but Hinata that was some impressive deductive reasoning" Kurenai said as she made her way into view.

"What Sensei!" Kiba yelled as he got into a defensive stance.

"While your willingness to protect your team is admirable Kiba you need to stand down the test is over; I am proud to announce that we are officialy team 8" Kurenai said with pride.

 **Story Quest Completed**

 **Pass your sensei's test**

 **Reward: 300 Exp, Title Genin, Jounin teacher**

 **Secret Objective: See underneath the underneath and discover the trick to your Genin test.**

 **Secret Reward: 1 perk point**

"Wait so we pass?" Kiba said.

"Yes Kiba you passed" Kurenai said with a chuckle.

Kurenai walked over to her new team and knelt down in front of them before pulling them into a hug "I'm very proud of you three and I'm sorry to put you through something so traumatic".

"It's okay Kurenai- sensei I'm just glad that this is all over" Hinata said softly as she buried herself further into the hug.

"So am I"

* * *

An exhausted team 8 made their way back to Konoha and made their way to a little tea shop called the dragon of the west that served the best tea and cinnamon buns in the entire land of fire.

After getting seated and gorging on the sugary goodness Hinata felt much better.

"Okay team now we need to do our debrief" Kurenai said eliciting a groan form Kiba.

"The sooner we do this the sooner we can all go home" Kurenai said sternly.

"And since you seem so eager we can begin with you Kiba" Kurenai said getting the feral looking boy to groan even louder.

"Kiba you showed a good willingness to work with and trust your team and no hesitation to defend them if need be, an admirable quality" Kurenai said causing Kiba to puff his chest out in pride.

"However your big mouth gave out mission critical information. I informed you all that I would be testing you, not when it started and you gave me information I previously had no access to. If I had not known Hinata would have worked out the deception much sooner. One of the things you will be working on is information control." Kurenai said to a much admonished Kiba.

"Shino you displayed impeccable calm and were the reason your team escaped its bonds. You are calm and collected in the field a concept some Chunin fail to grasp. However you are the lowest in terms of physical ability of the group thus causing the group pace to slow which is something which can be catastrophic on a mission. My feedback for you will be to have you not so reliant on your clan techniques and to increase your physical ability. Kurenai said getting the stoic Aburame to nod.

"Finally Hinata, you displayed exceptional insight and intelligence which is a key quality for a leader to have. However you got too emotional on mission and if you had been wrong in your call it could have led to the death of your team. You need to rein in your emotions on mission and be more objective, in this case your logic was sound but it was also emotionally driven." Kurenai said.

"For a tracking and scouting team which this team will most likely become evading enemies and escaping capture are necessary skills."

Noticing the depressed aura that surrounded her Genin Kurenai continued "Despite that all of you performed well above expectation as I did not expect you to find the true secret of the test. Now go home and get some sleep and meet me at training field 8 at 7 am bright and early"

"Yes Sensei!" said all three Genin.

 **Authors Note**

 **And that's a wrap, I am amazed by the response to this story after just a few days you guys are awesome; and that awesomeness is rewarded by an early chapter. Don't get too used to this though as I used my lunch breaks at work to write this.**

 **What did you guys think of the Genin test as I was quite proud of that, as a lot of writers just rehash the bell test but for a tracking and scout team like team 8 that face the very real possibility of capture I felt this played more to their and Kurenai's strengths.**

 **Next chapter probably around the same time as Fate/Another which I hope to publish on the 18/19** **th** **. So leave me lots of reviews and call it a late birthday present for me from a couple of weeks ago.**

 **Now a couple of responses to reviews, a few of you have noticed that Hinata does not have the Gamers mind ability. This is on purpose as I felt it was a bit too OP given the Naruto world so she just has a gamers body.**

 **Next chapter will be the last of the so called tutorial chapters as Hinata would then have seen all of the basic functions. There will still be more stuff that unlock later but for now she will have a good grasp on it.**

 **Also do you guys want more detailed stats or are what I have provided fine, by which I mean do you want exp to next level for skills and such or just a notification when It happens. For the most part I don't want to overcomplicate things with a boat load of data but I am curious to see what you guys think.**

 **That's about it please review fave and follow and If you like this story and also like Fate/Stay night please check out my other story.**


	3. Chapter 3

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

 **Important Authors note at the end.**

 **You have awakened HP and CP restored**

For Hinata yesterday was a very exhausting day physically and emotionally but she felt all the stronger for it. Kurenai-sensei had stopped by the compound later to make sure she was okay after visiting Shino and Kiba. She had been worried that she may have been too rough on the new Genin and Hinata knew that in the run up to her Jounin exams 6 months earlier she had been quite stressed.

Hinata noticed that Kurenai was visibly relieved once she said she held no hard feelings even though she was targeted most as a point of psychological attack. At the end of the day she was a Shinobi now so she was willing to forgive and forget, the case of cinnamon buns as an apology did not hurt either.

Looking to her right Hinata saw that it was 5am and decided to get up. The reason she was up so early was to further experiment with her bloodline.

Getting herself out of bed she had a quick shower and got changed into her shinobi attire.

After getting ready for the day she sat down at her desk and said "reputation"

 **The reputation system is a means to keep track of the opinion of an individual or group in regards to the user. Having a higher reputation confers some benefits such as additional quests, dialogue options, Romance options, shop discounts and combat bonuses.**

 **The reputation chart is tracked as such:**

 **Vilified-Hated-Disliked-Neutral-Liked-Friendly-Honoured-Exalted**

 **Reputation is scored of 1000, after reaching this threshold reputation can go up a level.**

 **Kohoha Shinobi – Neutral – 16/1000**

 **Konoha Civilians – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Hyuga Main Family – Disliked – 0/1000**

 **Hyuga Branch Family – Friendly – 0/1000**

 **Hyuga Hiashi – Disliked – 0/1000**

 **Hyuga Hanabi – Friendly – 0/1000**

 **Hyuga Neji – Hated – 0/1000**

 **Uzumaki Naruto – Liked 130/1000**

 **Uchiha Sasuke – Disliked – 0/1000**

 **Haruno Sakura – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Yamanaka Ino – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Akamichi Chouji – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Nara Shikamaru – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Inuzuka Kiba – Liked -0/1000**

 **Aburame Shino – Liked – 0/1000**

 **Yuhi Kurenai – Honoured – 0/1000**

Hinata let out a sad smile as she looked at this list which confirmed what she already knew in her heart.

"Disliked by my own father" she murmured. She always knew her father was disappointed in her that she did not display the bearing of a Hyuga, she was too 'soft' apparently.

Kurenai had always told her that she was a wonderful person and not to care what others thought about you, but when it was spelt out in front of you this was easier said than done.

Another sore spot was Neji, ever since she was almost kidnapped by Kumo her cousin had held her father personally responsible. But as he could not openly hate the clan leader that Hatred had transferred to her instead.

Hinata let him hate her hoping that allowing him to vent would help heal his heart and he would go back to being the kind Neji nii-san that used to push her on the swings and sneak her cinnamon buns from the kitchen.

Neji nii-san always criticised her for being weak and in truth maybe she was, she never got much satisfaction out of hurting people and if anything she wished that she could heal people instead. She would never be able to become a medic Ninja as it was 'unbefitting' of a Hyuga but in her spare time she loved to make healing salves. This was a shame as in her mind the Hyuga clan would make the best medics the elemental nations had ever seen, able to diagnose illness with but a look.

But perhaps with this ability she could change herself, little by little she would get stronger; not for personal gain but to heal her clan.

With her resolve set Hinata decided to look at the next menu.

"Inventory"

 **The Inventory screen allows you to store and remove items from a closed dimension pocket. The inventory screen also allows you to equip items directly to your person, this effect is immediate.**

 **The inventory system allows said Item to be stored and removed in exactly the same state as it was when entered.**

Hinata's eyebrows rose into her hairline this was incredible, while it might not seem like much this would allow her to store more rations in the field as well as other equipment seemingly without limit. As a bonus it would save on the cost of storage scrolls and not require any knowledge of sealing.

Also the ability to change equipment on the fly was staggering, she could be a walking armoury.

 **A subset of the inventory screen is equipment from here you can manage your equipment and view their bonuses.**

 **Equipment**

 **Head:** Konoha hitai-ate – plus 10% experience gained from mission office missions.

 **Torso:** Hooded Jacket

 **Arms:** N/A

 **Feet:** Basic Shinobi Sandals

 **Accessory:** N/A

Hinata walked over to her wardrobe and removed a few other outfits and experimented with her inventory storing and removing them as well as equipping them. She also got her supply of kunai and Shuriken that she had and stored it all in her inventory, as well as the 5 soldier pills that she had left.

 **You have completed all Basic Tutorials**

 **Reward: 50 exp, 500 Ryo**

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 365/1152**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **CP: 200/200**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 21 (0.21)**

 **Agility: 5**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 10**

 **Wisdom: 10 (0.1)**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 0**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 500**

With Kurenai as her teacher she was earning 1 extra intelligence and wisdom per level and 2 extra dexterity due to her status.

She also remembered that she acquired a new title from her last mission.

 **Genin: HP and CP +50 while equipped.**

That actually was not bad, she could have her Hyuga heiress title equipped while she trained and equip her Genin title while on missions.

One thing she did notice was that her current equipment was not giving her any significant defensive bonuses. While this may have been fine at the academy now it was unsuitable, but in order to changer her equipment she would need money which meant doing missions. Yes she could have asked her family for money but the first step to getting stronger was being self-sufficient.

* * *

Hinata arrived 15 minutes early to team 8's training ground to see Kiba and Shino already there sat in an awkward silence. Hinata had to stifle a giggle Kiba was very loud and boisterous while Shino was very reserved so neither quite knew how to approach the other.

"Good morning Kiba-san Shino-san" Hinata said as she sat down next to them.

"Morning/ good morning" they replied.

"I hope you both have not been waiting long?" she said.

"Nah don't worry about it Hinata Shino and I have only been here a few minutes" Kiba said with an enthusiastic grin.

"Man I can't believe we are really Genin, what do you think our first mission is going to be? I bet we will be rescuing a princess or taking down a missing nin, man this is going to be awesome" Kiba bragged.

Hinata also did not know what the missions would entail as every time she asked an older shinobi all they would do is pat her head with a knowing smile on their face.

"Logically they would not have new Genin performing such important tasks, I imagine we would be assigned easier missions, perhaps guard duty or patrolling our boarders" Shino reasoned.

"That does seem more likely, but whatever it is I believe we can do it if we work together; as a team… or even f-f-friends" Hinata said while stuttering and blushing towards the end.

Kiba and Shino shared a look at the blushing Hinata and nodded together, they had previously decided they were going to try and break the quiet girl out of her shell a little but from what they had seen she was doing a good job of it already.

"You bet Hinata" Kiba said grinning.

"That would be agreeable" Said Shino his features obscured by his outfit.

 **Reputation increased with Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino by 200**

Hinata looked up at her two teammates and smiled, she did not have many friends so she was glad her teammates seemed like they would like to try.

"Well I'm glad to see you all getting along well together" Came a voice from behind them.

"Kurenai sensei" Hinata said.

"Your will be with your Genin teammates for a large portion of your career so it's good if you get along. It may come a time when you will have to entrust your life to them and theirs to you" she said.

Hinata, Shino and Kiba regarded her seriously before turning to each other and nodding their heads.

"Anyway it's my responsibility to get you into shape, as you know I specialise in Genjutsu but all Jounin have to have a grasp on most areas so don't worry."

"I also know all three of you are clan children so I won't try to interfere with that training but I will try to supplement it and make sure you are all more efficient all round"

"So to give you a brief overview on what we will be covering I will teach you all advanced chakra control exercises, Genjutsu if you show a capacity for it or just how to dispel it if not, and I will also work with you on individual issues."

"Shino we will work on your taijutsu and try to create a style that utilises your clan techniques as well as improve your overall fitness."

"Kiba we will work on tactics and how best to utilise combat space and perhaps get you started with a weapon"

"Hinata I think a few Genjutsu would work well with your arsenal but a lot of our training will involve sparing to get you used to engaging an opponent"

"I think this will be enough to start you all off with and we can assess your progress as we go does that sound good?"

"Yes Sensei" the three Genin responded.

"So with that out of the way who wants to go take their first mission?

* * *

Team 8 arrived at the mission office and waited patiently while their sensei took a mission from the desk chunin .

"Ok team time for your first D rank mission. Our first task as team 8 will be to babysit some children for a villager."

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **Quest: Babysit some local children.**

 **Rewards:**

 **50 Ryo**

 **50 exp**

 **Y/N**

"You want us to what!" yelled Kiba clearly not amused.

"You heard me Kiba we are going to babysit some kids, you're a Shinobi no matter what it is you complete the mission; unless you think you can't handle a couple of kids?" Kurenai taunted.

"Hah, please sensei this will be a piece of cake those kids won't know what hit them" bragged Kiba.

Hinata just shook her head at how easily Kiba just got played.

XXXXXXX

They had been with the kids for half an hour and Kiba was already about to lose it after one of the babies peed on his jacket.

"I am not overreacting, when you have an enhanced sense of smell then you can comment Shino!" yelled Kiba.

"Kiba-san please calm down or you will wake the kids up" said Hinata softly.

"Besides it's not that bad I am sure no one else will notice it" Hinata said.

 **Through a special action the skill acting has been created.**

"Really you think, thanks Hinata" Kiba responded.

Time continued to pass as team 8 took care of the babies and soon enough the 3 hour mark came and their mission was over.

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **Rewards:**

 **50 Ryo**

 **50 exp**

After collecting their pay Hinata discretely put her pay into her inventory, it was not a lot but at least it was something.

"Ok team since this is your first day we are going to do a bit of sparing then call it a day, meet me at our training ground" Kurenai said as she disappeared into a swirl of leaves.

* * *

When team 8 got to the training ground they found their sensei already waiting for them.

"ok team when we are not doing missions or working on you individually we will be doing sparing to get you more used to combat each of you will face each other and after each round I will give you 20 minutes to rest "

"Match 1 will be Shino vs Hinata"

 **A NEW QUEST HAS BEEN CREATED**

 **Quest: sparing against Shino**

 **Objective: defeat Shino**

 **Rewards:**

 **Success: 250 exp**

 **Failure: 100 exp**

 **Y/N**

Hinata presses the yes button on her screen before squaring off against Shino and deciding to **observe** him.

 **Name: Aburame Shino**

 **Level: 10**

 **HP: 250/250**

 **CP: 350/350**

 **Strength: 3**

 **Dexterity: 4**

 **Agility: 3**

 **Vitality: 15**

 **Intelligence: 20**

 **Wisdom: 20**

 **Charisma: 1**

"And begin" shouted Kurenai.

Seeing that Shino had much lower physical stats than herself Hinata dashed in quickly in order to disable her teammate as painlessly as possible so that she would not have to fight.

Closing the distance quickly enough Hinata aimed a palm strike directly at her opponent which he managed to dodge and struck back catching her in the jaw.

 **HP 190/200**

Hinata's ability let her know exactly how much damage she had taken which was quite useful. However that blow should have landed, for some reason she was feeling very stiff and awkward while she was fighting.

As Hinata pondered her dilemma shino retreated and let lose a volley of shuriken at her which she narrowly dodged by rolling to one side.

Hinata felt a small prick on her neck as she guessed one of the shuriken must have grazed her.

Shino kept up the assault by pelting her with weapons that she was able to dodge thanks to her superior dexterity.

While she was evading it suddenly occurred to her that the reason she felt so awkward was she was still trying to fight using half remembered academy kata's rather than her knew Juken.

Partly it was to be expected this was her first real fight since gaining the skill but it was still an oversight.

After dodging the latest weapons volley Hinata sunk down into a more firm stance ignoring the stinging sensation in her legs where she assumed she must have been caught a few more times before rocketing off at Shino with much more fluidity and grace this time.

Seeing her charge Shino let one more desperate volley fly that Hinata was able to narrowly slip through before nailing the boy in the chest with a chakra enhanced strike.

"p-please give up Shino-san I have no wish to hurt you" Hinata said while maintaining a defensive position above Shino's downed form.

All of a sudden the Shino in front of her dispersed into a swarm of bugs and Hinata felt a sharp pain from her shoulder.

 **HP 170/200**

Grunting Hinata reached behind herself and pulled out the Kunai that was lodged in her shoulder and swiftly turned round only to be met with a swift punch to the jaw sending her sprawling to the ground.

 **HP 160/200**

As she looked up she saw her teammate knelt beside her with a Kunai at her throat.

"Right that's enough Shino is the victor" Kurenai said

 **QUEST FAILED**

 **Quest: sparing against Shino**

 **Reward: 100 Exp**

Shino extended his hand helping Hinata to her feet which she smiled meekly in thanks getting herself up and patting herself down.

"Nice work Shino that was a good strategy you employed simple yet effective, now do either of you know what Shino did?" Kurenai asked.

"I-Im sorry sensei but I don't know" Hinata said sadly.

"He made a clone before the match started right Sensei?" Kiba responded.

"That's right Kiba as soon as I announced that we would be sparing Shino made a clone and switched places hiding himself in the tree line and as soon as Hinata attacked he sent out his Kikaichu insects to start sapping her chakra while she fought the clone is that right Shino" Kurenai stated.

"That is a correct assessment Sensei due to Hinata san being distracted and neglecting to activate her Byakugan i was able to hide from sight slowly siphoning off her chakra and then surprise her after she believed she had defeated me." Said shino.

Hinata thoroughly shocked brought up her status menu to confirm what had been said.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 520/1152**

 **HP: 160/200**

 **CP: 170/200**

They were right, while the bugs may not have siphoned off much if this had been a longer fight it would have been crippling.

"So Hinata what you need to take away from this is that you must not get complacent even if an opponent looks defeated they could be luring you into a trap. Also you should have activated your Byakugan from the beginning; if you had you would have seen through Shino's ploy. I know it's new to you but as a Shinobi you have to use everything at your disposal." Kurenai reprimanded.

"Ok 20 minute break then next up is Hinata vs Kiba" Said Kurenai.

 **A NEW QUEST HAS BEEN CREATED**

 **Quest: sparing against Kiba**

 **Objective: defeat Kiba**

 **Rewards:**

 **Success: 250 exp**

 **Failure: 100 exp**

 **Y/N**

Hinata managed to recuperate somewhat during the break and thankfully she had not taken much damage from Shino so she was more or less ready to go.

 **HP: 168/200**

 **CP: 178/200**

The first thing she did as she got up and made her way over to Kiba was to channel a constant stream of chakra to her eyes activating her Byakugan.

As she had done with Shino she decided to **Observe** Kiba and his Ninken partner.

 **Name: Inuzuka Kiba**

 **Level: 8**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **CP: 150/150**

 **Strength: 20**

 **Dexterity: 17**

 **Agility: 18**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 5**

 **Wisdom: 4**

 **Charisma: 4**

She knew she would have to be careful Kiba was a lot faster and stronger than her although she did hold a slight edge in dexterity.

 **Name: Akamaru**

 **Level: 5**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **CP: 130/130**

 **Strength: 10**

 **Dexterity: 10**

 **Agility: 10**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 3**

 **Wisdom: 2**

 **Charisma: 2**

Even Akamaru for his level had impressive stats so she would need to keep her eye on the pup.

"Okay you two are you ready?" Kurenai said getting a nod from both her students.

"Begin" she said.

Wasting no time Kiba dropped to all fours and dashed at her leaping into the air while rotating his body as he got closer.

" **Tsuga** " (passing fang) Kiba yelled as his body began to pick up speed as he began to rotate in the air at a frightening speed his body becoming like a drill of fangs and claws.

Hinata's eyes widened as Kiba took off from his spot and only her natural flexibility allowed her bend away and avoid the full brunt of the blow, as it stood the hit glanced her side and sent her sprawling to the floor.

Using the momentum of the hit Hinata was able to roll with the blow and get herself back to her feet as Kiba spiralled off into the distance creating a large gap between them.

Gathering herself and settling back into a stance Hinata noticed her health.

 **128/200**

Just a glancing blow took off 40 HP, she did not want to find out what taking the full assault would do.

Hinata snapped round abruptly and side stepped, in the course of this movement she sent a chakra infused palm strike downward connecting with something flying through the air.

With her near 360 degree vision Hinata noticed Akamaru attempting to attack her exposed back with a **Tsuga** of his own. Unfortunately for the pup Hinata had noticed and countered with a precise strike nailing the pup as he went past sending the faithful hound crashing into the floor.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled as he dashed forward to aid his partner.

Seeing this opportunity Hinata also dashed forward to engage Kiba at close range and lashed out with a flurry of small strikes.

It was only now that Hinata recognised how truly amazing the Byakugan was, she could see Kiba's muscles strain as he dodged her blows and she could see his tenketsu dotted over his body shining brightly like miniature stars as chakra passed through them.

She could see several in his arm go dark as if someone blew out a light as she connected with a few blows.

Kiba however was not deterred and used his superior speed to land a blow on Hinata's side sending the girl off balance.

 **105/200**

Using that opening Kiba managed to break through to his downed partner "Akamaru you okay?" Kiba said getting a pained but happy woof from his canine companion.

Confirming his dog was okay the two got back into a low crouch which hinata knew symbolised they were about to use the **Tsuga** , she could even see the build-up of chakra.

It was at this moment Hinata wished she knew her clans **Kaiten** (Rotation) which would be able to block the onslaught. Unfortunately for Hinata she did not which meant that she was unable to do anything when the two drills impacted her and sent her flying.

* * *

Hinata awoke some time later to find herself laid comfortably under a tree with an exhausted looking Kiba lying next to her. As she sat up she could see Shino sparring with Kurenai- sensei a few meters away.

"Yo Hinata your up" stated Kiba.

"Kiba-san how long was I unconscious for?" Hinata asked.

"Eh about 40 minutes" Kiba replied.

Hinata nodded her head and proceeded to look herself over.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 620/1152**

 **HP: 32/200**

 **CP: 152/200**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 21 (0.21)**

 **Agility: 5**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 10**

 **Wisdom: 10 (0.1)**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 0**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 500**

Judging by her health 40 minutes seemed about right given her recovery rates.

"I had a match and lost to Shino, his damn bugs drained Akamaru and I dry especially as we used a fair bit of chakra against you. After that Kurenai- sensei decided to work on Shino's taijutsu for a bit." Kiba informed her.

As they were speaking Kurenai and Shino came over. "Okay team that's enough for today I think, tomorrow we will do more but for now that's enough. From now on our days together will be as followed 7am till 12 pm we will complete as many D rank missions as possible, we will break for 1 hours lunch 1pm till 2pm we will focus on sparring and after that until 5pm we will either work on your individual skills or I may have a specific exercise for you. I will change up the schedule as I fell appropriate, is that clear?" said Kurenai.

"Yes Sensei" Chorused her genin.

"Okay team for now good work I will see you all bright and early tomorrow" Kurenai said as she vanished in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

After the team had gone their separate ways Hinata made her way to the dragon of the west to have some food. On her way she had been making liberal use of her **Observe** skill on any person she saw passing. Just by doing this she had levelled the skill up 5 times in the short walk. Unfortunately the skill did not seem to reveal any new information yet and it took more observations each level to increase.

One thing she did notice was that the highest level she could see was level 28 so she guessed she could only see 20 levels above herself. This meant most of the Shinobi she could gather no info on, well at least those above Genin rank, it seemed like she could only identify about half of the Chunin.

Sitting in her chair near the corner of the room, a seat she usually occupied when she was here the cheery proprietor came over with her order.

The man looked to be in his 60's and had a plump cheerful face with his grey hair done up in a topknot. He had a trimmed beard fashioned into a goatee and wore red robes decorated with white lotuses and had a pale green apron on.

"Ah Hinata- chan so nice to see you again" the man said as he placed down Hinata's order.

The smell of green tea and freshly baked Cinnamon buns made Hinata's mouth water as her eyes glued onto the tasty treats.

The dragon of the west served the best tea and cakes in the whole of the elemental nations and the normally cripplingly shy Hyuga would fight anyone that said different.

Naruto poor sweet deluded Naruto believed Ramen to be the food of the God's but Hinata knew the truth, yes ramen was tasty but Cinnamon buns were the true path to enlightenment, once they were married she would show him that.

"Wait what?" Hinata thought her cheeks flushing crimson as her body decided to pump half of her blood to her face.

"Are you okay Hinata- chan you look like you are feeling a bit ill"

Shaking her head and getting herself back under control Hinata responded "I'm okay Oji- san just a long day of training" she replied.

"Ah training yes something I know very well of" he chuckled. "Back in the day I was something of a warrior myself" he said.

"You were a shinobi oji- san" Hinata asked.

"Something like that my dear. Anyway don't let this old man hold you up any longer your tea will be getting cold" he said walking back to the kitchens.

As he was walking away Hinata decided to take a quick peek at him with her Observe skill.

 **Name: Iroh**

 **Level: ?**

 **Iroh is the owner of the dragon of the west tea shop which he runs with his son Lu Ten. Iroh is extremely dedicated to making the finest tea in the world and once owned another shop in Tetsu no Kuni called the jasmine dragon but due to unfortunate circumstances he was forced to move to Konoha.**

Suffice to say Hinata was shocked, Oji- san must have been pretty strong if she could not even see his level.

As Hinata ate her food she saw Iroh's son Lu Ten come out from the back with a troubled look on his face. What struck Hinata as odd was that there was a floating exclamation mark hanging above his head.

Finishing up her food she went over to investigate "Lu Ten- san is everything okay?" she asked.

"Ah Hinata- san I seem to be in a bit of a predicament the shipment of flour we ordered has not seemed to have arrived yet and father wanted to start on another batch of Cinnamon buns soon but we currently can't"

Hinata was horrified, no Cinnamon buns this could not stand.

 **INDIVIDUAL QUEST**

 **Quest: Collect the flour**

 **Reward: 100 exp**

 **100 Ryo**

 **Bonus Objective: collect all flour in under an hour**

 **Bonus Reward: 100 exp**

 **Individual quests are quests that can be created by an individual or group in response to a need. Many people can offer quests and after achieving higher levels of reputation more quests with greater rewards may become available. These quests are highlighted by an exclamation mark, easy quests for your level are white, medium are yellow, hard are red and exceptionally dangerous quests that would have far reaching ramifications are black.**

"I don't mind collecting it for you I am finished for the day and its only 5pm so I don't have to be home yet" Hinata offered.

"Are you sure? The bags are quite heavy and it is on the other side of town" Lu Ten said.

"Don't worry Lu Ten-san I can handle it" She said with a smile.

"Okay in that case I am counting on you Hinata-san" Lu Ten said.

As Hinata left the store she noticed a timer pop up in a box at the corner of her vision that was counting down from an hour.

Hinata immediately set off as fast as she could go heading to the other side of the village.

 **A new skill has been created through a special action.**

 **Running Level: 1**

Passively increases Agility by 1%

As Hinata was moving she felt her body even out and her form increase, she was not moving any faster than her normal sprint but her running form seemed to get better allowing her to waste less energy when moving.

With her newfound technique she was able to get her way across the village in 15 minutes and arrived at the location to collect the flour.

The manager brought her to the back where she was 8 large sacks filled with flour and her heart sank, there was no way she could carry all that.

Suddenly it occurred to her that she did not have to, lugging the bags she opened her inventory. She had never tried it with anything this big before but she crossed her fingers and bushed the bag in, the air around the bag began to distort and suddenly it was gone.

Checking her inventory after revealed that 1 sack of flour was currently there, smiling brightly she proceeded to put the other bags in the inventory before taking off again.

Once more Hinata pushed herself hard in order to make it back quickly and she was rewarded for her efforts.

 **Strenuous physical activity has caused Agility to go up by 1.**

Hinata managed to arrive back to the shop with around 20 minutes to spare and ducked into an alley in order to remove the goods from her inventory with nobody noticing. After they were out she piled them in front of the shop before going to meet Lu Ten.

"Ah Hinata your back that was very fast, I can't thank you enough for your help" said Lu Ten.

 **INDIVIDUAL QUEST COMPLETED**

 **Reward:**

 **100 exp**

 **100 Ryo**

 **Bonus Reward:**

 **100 exp**

"No problem Lu Ten-san I was happy to help" Hinata said with a smile satisfied nobody would be denied delicious sugary perfection.

* * *

By the time Hinata had gotten home to the Hyuga estate she was quite tired, as was proper she informed her father she had returned secretly hoping he would enquire about her day but he merely dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

Sad but not surprised Hinata went to spend some time with her sister Hanabi and then decided to help some of the branch family members in the kitchen. Apparently such act netted her +20 reputation with both as well as the skill cooking which at first glance did not appear very helpful but she would practice it none the less.

After a quick bath she got dressed in her sleep ware and reflected on the events of the day. Both Shino and Kiba had turned out to be quite strong and she would have to do quite a bit to catch up. She noticed that by doing strenuous activities she could increase her stats without levelling, a short run had given her a point of agility. She guessed that the higher her stats the more difficult they would be to increase naturally so for now when she levelled she would hold the points back and increase her strength the traditional way first as if today was any indication she could improve quite quickly.

 **By carefully thinking through your progression wisdom has increased by 1**

In fact it was very worth her time to increase her skills while it may not seem like much if the passive bonuses for her skills increased as she levelled they could provide a significant boost. She already had passive bonuses for three stats perhaps there were skills for others, it may be worth visiting the library after training tomorrow.

 **By carefully thinking through your progression wisdom has increased by 1**

In fact now that she thought about it her mind was becoming even more clear it may be worth figuring out how she wanted to specialise so that when the time came she could best spend her points rather than be too all rounded. She thought she heard some of the boys call it min/maxing when she heard them speaking about their computer games.

 **By carefully thinking through your progression wisdom has increased by 1**

Either way today had been a pretty good first day as a Genin hopefully tomorrow would be even better.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 820/1152**

 **HP: 32/200**

 **CP: 152/200**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 21 (0.21)**

 **Agility: 6 (0.06)**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 10**

 **Wisdom: 13 (0.13)**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 0**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 600**

 **Author's notes**

 **Hi Guys Merry Christmas, and happy holidays here is a new chapter. Originally I wanted this up before Christmas but a surprise interview came up as well as other things so it was not meant to be.**

 **A couple of things to note a few of you may have noticed but some of Hinata's stats are different and that is because I went back to edit the earlier chapters as I was not happy how some of the information was displayed in terms of stats and missions.**

 **I also changed exp to level as I felt I may have started too low, it's still 20% on top of each level to grow but I changed her starting value from 200 to 800. I also added an agility stat as I felt dexterity did not properly convey the idea of speed and it would not be suitable for certain characters. For example Hinata is dextrous while rock lee is fast.**

 **Also party system now unlocks at level 20 not 30, have a quick skim through chapters one and two and tell me if you guys like the changes.**

 **Also wow I am completely blown away by the response to this story 2 chapters in and 40 reviews 95 faves and 173 follows thank you guys so much. Though I have to say when someone follows you as an author it is very unintentionally creepy to see in your inbox XXXX is now following you, but creep away guys creep away I love it.**

 **Anyway Please let me know what you think and if we can keep 20 reviews per chapter up and get to 60 reviews I will do my best to get a new chapter up by next weekend and that's a promise of a lifetime as that's my author's way.**


	4. Chapter 4

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

 **Hi all as some of you may have noticed over the last 2 weeks no reviews have been showing up on stories all across the site. This issue has been sorted now but as there is a backlog of reviews I was unable to respond to I thought I would do so here, this won't be something I do often as I normally just reply to the individual but since there are a couple why not.**

 **FlatHamster:** well-she levels up so easily. "Get to school on time!" is a bit too simple do you know what I mean?  
I read another story about Sakura unlocking the gaming ability on fanfiction too. Is that a collab?

 **Answer:** at the beginning she will have a few easy quests like any game easy exp, but she has actually only leveled twice so far in this fic so not actually that much. And nope not a collab, I was not even aware there was a Sakura gamer fic.

 **1:** amazing i enjoy how u displayed her but might i suggest she get a weapon to add or compliment her gentle fist?

 **Answer:** Yes she will eventually have a weapon, one that in my personal opinion is perfect for a Hyuga yet I have never seen any fanfiction author implement for some reason.

 **Comment from multiple people:** yes it's very tempting to have Hinata troll Ten Ten with her infinite inventory lol.

 **You have awakened HP and CP restored**

Hinata sat up in bed and stretched her arms out feeling alert and refreshed. Yesterday she had been feeling so sore and stiff after the sparing she took part in, now however after a good night's sleep she felt like she was in top condition.

It was currently 6am which meant she had an hour before she had to meet her team at the mission registry office. After getting a shower, changed and some food she was ready to face the day.

As Hinata entered the mission office she saw that her team was already there, secretly she hoped today's mission would be a little bit more fulfilling than yesterdays.

"Morning Hinata" Kiba said in his usual jovial tone, Shino next to him nodded his head in acknowledgement of her presence.

"Good morning Hinata I am glad to see that all of you are here and I hope you are all not too tired after yesterday's events. Today we will be taking another D rank mission today hopefully we can get through more than one" Kurenai said.

As they approached the desk the three new genin were shocked at who they saw manning it.

"Iruka-sensei!" Kiba blurted out.

"Hello Kurenai-san, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Hinata-san I take it you are all here for a mission" Iruka stated.

"Um, Iruka-sensei what are you doing here?" Hinata asked.

Iruka chuckled lightly as he responded "The new academy intake does not start for two more months so I am helping out in the mission office in the meanwhile so I imagine I will be seeing you lot from time to time" Iruka said.

The three genin nodded in understanding however Hinata had another question.

"Um s-sensei, h-have you seen Naruto-kun yet" Hinata said fighting down a blush.

"Yes Hinata actually I had Ramen with him last night as he was telling me about how he passed his sensei's test" Iruka chuckled.

"Wow Kakashi actually passed a team I'm surprised" said Kurenai.

"Why would that be unusual sensei" Shino said in his stoic tone.

"Hmm, Hatake Kakashi is one of the best jounin Konoha has to offer however he is a bit… eccentric" Kurenai said with a sigh.

"He is notorious for being late to everything, being a pervert and never passing a single genin team so the fact he has done so now means he obviously saw something in the kids he got assigned so if I were you three I would keep an eye out on that." She said

"Heh, who cares I bet they aint got anything on us" Kiba bragged.

"Yes, yes Kiba now if we are done with boasting I think we should take a mission" said Kurenai.

Kurenai went over to Iruka and Hinata could see them discussing what missions were currently available.

"I think this one will do for now" Kurenai said pocketing the scroll. "Today our mission is to go to one of the farms on the east side of the village and help moving all the produce that has been collected from the field into one of the barns."

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **Quest: Helping the local farm**

 **Rewards:**

 **50 Ryo**

 **50 exp**

 **Y/N**

After accepting the quest team 8 made their way across the village to Musashi's farm to meet the client. Mr Musashi was a man in his late forties who had dry tanned skin and well defined muscles from working in the fields every day.

"Ah Shinobi-san I am glad you could make it, normally this is the type of work I would be doing myself but lately my back has been playing up. I need this month's harvest put in the barn as quickly as you can" said the man.

"Of course Musashi-san my team and I will be more than happy to get this done for you" Kurenai said.

Mr Musashi gave them a curt nod before he headed back inside to do some work in the house.

"Okay team today's mission will be a lot more physically taxing than yesterday but think of it as training" Kurenai said.

"Yes sensei" the team said.

Looking over to the pile there appeared to be around three hundred and fifty bags of vegetables that needed to be stored. Hinata almost wished she was by herself so that she could use her inventory to do this quickly but sadly with her team around it was not an option.

As it stood she was not sure whether to tell her team as she did not fully understand the ability herself. For the moment she felt it was better to keep it under wraps.

"Okay Akamaru I bet we can move more bags that both Shino and Hinata combined before the end of the mission" Kiba bragged.

 **CHALLENGE PRESENTED**

 **With Shino store more bags than Kiba**

 **Rewards:**

 **50 exp**

 **? reputation with Kiba**

 **? reputation with Shino**

 **Failure:**

 **50 exp**

 **-100 reputation with Kiba**

 **Y/N**

 **Challenges differ from standard quests, challenges can be issued by other people and often result in reputation gains or losses. Challenges can eventually result in deeper bonds of camaraderie or rivalries depending on the action taken during said challenge (Warning may result in eternal rivals). Challenges are entirely optional unlike some quests that may be mandatory.**

Hinata blinked when the notification flashed up in front of her, should she accept or not. On one hand it could let her develop deeper bonds with one of her teammates but if she failed she would almost be back to square one with Kiba.

Deciding to be brave she pressed yes to accept the challenge.

"Um, Kiba-san I think Shino and I will be able to store more than you will" Hinata said with faux confidence.

"I concur while individually you would most certainly prevail together I believe Hinata-san and I will prove to be a formidable opposition" said the stoic Aburame.

Kiba let a feral grin slip onto his face "looks like we have competition boy" Kiba said to Akamaru as the pup barked in response.

"This will be fun, on your marks, get set, and go!" Kiba said as he darted towards the pile Hinata and Shino following after him.

Sitting in the distance Kurenai could only shake her head at her teams antics but let it go "well they are children and I suppose this way we may actually get two jobs in before lunch" she said to herself.

Hinata saw Kiba rush over and lifted a sack of vegetables on his shoulder before darting off at a blistering pace.

Reaching the pile Hinata grasped one of the bags and was surprised by how heavy they were, they seemed to be about 30kg each. To her side she could see Shino was having even more difficulty until a swarm of bugs spread from his body and latched onto the bag to give him a little bit of help.

As Hinata picked up the bag she could already see Kiba darting back for another one.

"What's wrong guys, you enjoying eating my dust that much" he said with a cocky grin which just spurred his two teammates on.

Moving as quickly as they could Shino and Hinata made their way into the farmhouse to deposit their bags before going back to the pile to pick up another one.

This trend continued for the next few minutes but for every two Shino and Hinata brought Kiba managed three. After 10 minutes Hinata and Shino had stacked 30 bags 15 each while Kiba had done 45.

As Hinata dumped her 15th bag a notification popped up.

 **Due to constant physical exertion strength has increased by 1**

Hinata could feel her muscles becoming a bit more powerful and compact and when she went to get the next bag it did seem to be a little easier to carry.

To her left she could see Shino was beginning to slow down a touch not enough to impede his performance but sweat was beginning to show on his brow. Kiba still seemed to be full of energy.

Deciding to pick up the pace Hinata grabbed another bag and made her way to the barn. Time just seemed to blend as the genin repeated their monotonous task. 10 minutes later Shino had delivered another 14 bags while Hinata delivered 18, Kiba had delivered 45 again, it was not by much but the gap was closing and Kiba was beginning to look a bit winded as he had been going full out from the start.

Surprisingly Hinata was not tired at all even though she should be but she figured it must be a perk of her Gamer's Body skill.

A couple of bags later Hinata got another notification.

 **Due to constant physical exertion strength has increased by 1**

This time it had taken her 20 bags before she got a strength increase and again she felt her muscles becoming more powerful.

Time continued to pass and Kiba managed another 40 bags while Hinata managed 25 bags getting another strength boost and Shino managed 13. At this point in time Shino looked dead on his feet and Kiba was now sweating.

10 minutes later Hinata managed 30 bags and got another boost to her strength, since starting this mission she was almost twice as strong as before but she guessed the points were only coming so quickly due to how low her stats were to begin with.

By this point Shino could only manage 10 bags and Kiba had dropped drastically down to 35 bags.

Doing the math Hinata knew at this rate Kiba would still win so she had no choice but to try taking two bags at a time.

As Hinata tried to lift them she felt her knees start to buckle under the weight, however determined not to lose she sent a surge of chakra to her legs and forced herself up.

 **Through a special action a new skill has been created.**

 **Chakra flow Level: 1**

By channelling chakra to the limbs the user is able to enhance their physical stats.

While active increases:

Strength by 20%

Agility by 20%

CP cost 20 per minute

With a sudden burst of strength Hinata stood back up and made her way to the barn her increased strength and speed making it that she was only moving slightly slower than when she carried one.

Unnoticed by her Shino and Kiba had both stopped and in the Inuzuka's case was looking at Hinata like she had grown a second head. In that time Hinata managed three trips before the boy shook himself out of his confusion.

It was getting close after 10 minutes Hinata had gathered 28 bags Shino had 6 and Kiba took 8 leaving 3 bags remaining.

The two boys were both sweaty and exhausted while Hinata only had a light sheen of sweat on her face, if not for her ability she knew she would not have lasted this long and the exhaustion she felt was more mental than physical anyway.

However using Chakra flow for so long meant that she was now out of chakra completely and her legs felt like lead because of it due to mild chakra exhaustion. The three genin shared a look and saw each of their comrades were in equally bad a condition through either physical exhaustion or chakra exhaustion.

With as start Kiba broke off into a desperate sprint, he knew he needed two bags in order to win but Hinata and Shino were closing in behind him. Even tired Kiba was simply much faster than his two teammates and reached the pile first pulling two bags up on his shoulders.

Hinata was feeling disheartened but was proud of the performance they displayed. However that disheartened feeling was replaced by shock when the feral looking boy grinned and handed one of the sacks to Hinata and the other to Shino before picking up the last one himself.

"K-Kiba-san are you sure?" Hinata stuttered.

"I must agree Kiba-san it is illogical to throw away a victory" Shino said.

Kiba just laughed a shook his head "This was the most fun I have had in a while and it was a good competition. It was worth it to see little Hinata roid out and carry two bags" he said with a cheeky grin causing Hinata to blush and retreat into her coat.

"But as I was running here I realised were a team now, no more than that you two are part of the pack. I only pushed myself this hard because it was fun to do this with you guys so one bag each, that's what I decided" he said with a determined nod.

Hinata couldn't help but start giggling at the oddly serious face Kiba was making.

"Hey don't laugh I was trying to be all cool and stuff" Kiba whined.

"I'm sorry Kiba-kun I thought you were very cool" Hinata responded.

"Oh so I'm Kiba-kun now well I guess that makes you Hinata-chan then" Kiba grinned.

Hinata blushed deeply while nodding her head "I guess that makes you Shino-kun then" Hinata said with a small smile getting a nod from the Aburame, later she would swear she also saw his lips twitch to which Shino would firmly deny.

Finally team 8 dropped the last bags into the barn.

 **CHALLENGE COMPLETED**

 **Reward:**

 **50 exp**

 **Friendship attained with Inuzuka Kiba**

 **Friendship attained with Aburame Shino**

As team 8 left the barn they were greeted to the sight of Kurenai who was shaking her head with a knowing smile on her face causing the three genin to blush as in their excitement they had completely forgotten about her.

Hinata noticed something flashed up noting that she had attained a new perk something she could check out later which also reminded her she still had a perk point to spend.

"Well I don't think I have ever seen a group of Genin take to a D rank so enthusiastically before" Kurenai giggled.

"Crap that's right this was a D rank…. I kinda forgot" said Kiba sheepishly.

"Firstly language, and secondly only you could forget they were on a mission Kiba" Kurenai said shaking her head.

"Hey its fine we got the job done and in great time too" said Kiba

"well that's true, I didn't think you guys would get it done in under an hour but that just means more D ranks" Kurenai said with a slightly sadistic smile getting her three genin to groan.

"Anyway lets inform the client that we are done" Kurenai said walking towards the main house.

"Oh before I forget, how did you manage to carry two bags for so long Hinata-chan?" asked Kiba also drawing Shino and Kurenai's attention.

"Um I j-just c-channelled a constant stream of chakra to my limbs" stuttered Hinata who realised everyone was staring at her.

"Huh how would that help?" questioned Kiba.

"Actually that was something I was going to teach you three in the coming weeks but since it's been brought up we will work on it after sparing today. Hinata did anyone teach you that?" Kurenai asked.

"No sensei it just came to me in the moment" Hinata said causing Kurenai to smile proudly.

"Well what you just did is actually a technique we call chakra flow. By channelling a constant stream of chakra to your limbs you can boost your speed and strength, the more proficient you are the bigger the boost"

"Wow that's pretty cool" Kiba commented.

"It is but it consumes a fair amount of chakra in the beginning, which reminds me Hinata how are you feeling?" Kurenai asked.

"A bit tired sensei mainly due to chakra exhaustion but I have some soldier pills so I will be fine." She smiled.

Team 8 continued in a comfortable silence until they got back to the client who was shocked and pleased they finished so quickly.

"Well I am very impressed I'll make sure to spread the word that team 8 was very helpful" the client said.

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **Rewards:**

 **50 Ryo**

 **50 exp**

"Thank you for the compliment, right team back to the mission office for one more before lunch"

* * *

One more boring D rank later that consisted of walking the dogs from the Inuzuka kennels which pleased Kiba and they had gotten some lunch and met up at their training field.

Team 8 proceeded to go through another round of sparing in which the same objectives to beat Shino and Kiba appeared.

Facing Shino Hinata did remember to activate her Byakugan which reduced the effectiveness of his **Mushi Bunshin** (Insect clone) and combined with her Chakra flow technique she was able to dominate the Aburame physically closing off most of his tenketsu.

However much to her dismay the combination of two chakra intensive techniques and Shino's Kikaichu insects meant that she succumbed to chakra exhaustion for the second time that day and unfortunately could not convert the victory.

While she was praised by Kurenai-sensei for a vast improvement on yesterday's performance she was cautioned to always be mindful of her chakra reserves especially when she knew she still had another opponent to face.

As a consequence Kurenai decided Hinata would not compete in her second match against Kiba due to exhaustion. Kiba was able to swiftly defeat Shino in a complete reversal from their previous fight due to the Injuries Shino sustained from Hinata.

Kurenai explained that this was good practice as often on missions you will not be in top condition but still must deal with the possibility of fighting an enemy in that state.

For the rest of the training time Kurenai lectured them on chakra manipulation and technique gaining Hinata a point of intelligence from the impromptu lecture. After Kiba began to pull his hair out in boredom Kurenai finally allowed them to perform the technique, Hinata even convincing her sensei to allow her to participate as well.

From using the move so much that day chakra flow actually levelled up. Hinata noticed this skill took quite a long time to level as it practically took her emptying her reserves twice just for one level. It had been worth it though as it gave her an additional 1% bonus to strength and agility when active.

After a grueling training session team 8 finally disbanded but not before deciding to meet up in five days' time on Sunday their lone day off for a team bonding session to commemorate their first week as genin.

* * *

It was around 5.30 when Hinata finally arrived at the Konoha Shinobi Library. The Library was four stories tall and was divided into the first floor which contained material accessible by Genin. The Second floor which was accessible by Chunin, third floor accessible by tokubetsu jounin and the fourth floor was the jounin section.

The library itself did not hold any material above B rank for safety reasons, those materials could be requested at the Hokage tower where your request would be reviewed by a team of specially selected Jounin. However for a newly minted genin it was still a treasure trove of information as academy students were not allowed inside.

Incidentally Hinata was also not allowed into her clans main Library, most likely this was an attempt to snub her by the elders in the clan that thought her sister would make a better heir. As such Hinata had not had the opportunity to add to her technique repertoire.

Entering the library Hinata flashed her shinobi ID to the chunin at the door who smiled and let her in.

Hinata could not help a little smile turn up on her face as she entered the library and a musty smell hit her nose. She could smell the fragrance of the scrolls that were on the shelf, it was a dusty and slightly musky smell but it felt nice.

The library on the genin floor was split up into four sections Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu and other skills.

For the most part the Genin section of the library was quiet and only a few people were inside, one of which Hinata recognised. Sitting in the skills section of the library Hinata could see the unmistakably pink hair of one Haruno Sakura sitting next to a mountain of scrolls vigorously taking notes.

Not wanting to disturb the girl who seemed to be concentrating Hinata moved to the far side of the section.

This section of the library was filled with books as well as scrolls and was neatly organised. This section contained material from chakra control to plumbing and everything in between. Shinobi on assignment were often expected to blend in so developing a vocational skill was always advisable.

One thing Hinata noticed from today was that she was expending too much chakra with her techniques so she either needed a way to increase her chakra capacity or a way to reduce the cost of her techniques.

Another thing to note was that it would be wise to create a physical training regime rather than going out at random and not getting enough of a benefit. She had considered asking Neji nii-san's sensei for some tips but that would only end badly.

Hinata decided to get some books on chakra control and on physical training, while she was there she also saw a couple of books about creating healing salves that looked quite interesting as most medical texts were in the chunin and above sections.

Hinata found a quiet corner for herself and began to read, the books on chakra control she found were very interesting and before she knew it two hours had passed and two notifications of an intelligence increase. It seemed studying was a good way to increase her stats as well.

One of the topics the book referenced was chakra natures and shape manipulation but both were only mentioned in passing. One thing this did make her think of was asking someone the method to see what her nature was.

When she reached for the next book on chakra control she saw a window pop up.

 **Would you like to learn the skill leaf sticking exercise?**

 **Y/N**

This was something new Hinata had not encountered before so seeming interesting she clicked yes and as she did the book crumbled into motes of light that seemed to get absorbed into her body.

 **Skill books: skill books allow the user to instantly learn a skill at base level if they meet the requirements to learn the technique. Skill books can only be used once.**

 **New skill learnt: Leaf sticking exercise Level: 1**

 **Reduce chakra cost of all techniques by 5%**

 **Cost 5CP per minute**

Hinata's eyes widened at the information before her, she felt an intrinsic knowledge of how to perform the leaf sticking exercise. To confirm this she ripped a spare piece of paper and with an application of chakra watched as it stuck to her forehead.

This was incredible she had learnt a new technique in a matter of moments, if this could be applied to jutsu there was no limit to how fast she could grow.

As the euphoria started to wear off it dawned on her that she had just destroyed library property. Hinata paled at this knowing it was a crime to do so, thankfully the room being so quiet nobody noticed as well as the fact that the genin section was not very well guarded.

Calming her nerves Hinata felt a bit bad about it but what was done is done, thankfully there was a service where for a fee one of the library shinobi could duplicate a text for personal ownership but it was a bit expensive.

Hinata spent the next hour going over her remaining books and gaining another point of intelligence, in this time another book prompted her to learn a skill in creating healing salves but she pressed no not wanting to push her luck. She also created a personalised training regimen that she felt would help her grow while keeping her stats well rounded for the moment until she knew where to specialise.

After putting her books away Hinata looked over to the stairs leading to the chunin section of the library when a new quest popped up.

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **Quest: sneak into the chunin section**

 **Reward:**

 **2000 exp**

 **Access to chunin grade materials until caught or you leave**

 **Failure:**

 **Interrogated at Interrogation and torture department**

 **Possible loss of ninja licence**

 **Y/N**

Hinata blinked as she looked over the quest requirements before rapidly hammering down on the no button closing the quest screen. While the rewards were good the cost of failure was way too great for her to consider, never mind the moral implications as weird as that sounds coming from a shinobi.

Ridding her mind of the thought of ending up being interrogated Hinata wandered over to the chunin at the desk to inquire about the price of book duplication. Much to her dismay the cost would be about 1500 ryo per book, well outside of her price range. Unfortunately that meant no jutsu hoarding till she had more money.

Still it had been a profitable day Hinata thought as she made her way home and opened up her status screen.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 8 Exp to next level 1080/1152**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **CP: 230/230**

 **Strength: 9**

 **Dexterity: 21 (0.21)**

 **Agility: 6 (0.06)**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 13**

 **Wisdom: 13 (0.13)**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 0**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 700**

It was weird to think in the short time she had gained her ability she had become much stronger to the point where she almost beat Shino who was ranked second in their year in the academy. If she continued to improve at this rate soon enough she might be able to win.

It was kind of a scary thought that she could improve so rapidly, the last few years had been hard on her. Honestly she had been starting to believe she was a failure like everyone said she was, she had no Byakugan her Juken was appalling and she had no self-confidence.

"Well at least I am improving in a few of those areas" Hinata thought.

The childish part of her wanted to run home right now and display her Byakugan proudly to her father as he still believed she had not unlocked it. The rational side of her that had been tempered by years of scorn convinced her otherwise, unfortunately all it would look like was the slow child finally reaching the starting line rather than any type of achievement.

No for now she would keep her secrets and wait for the moment where she could make her father proud.

HInata was so lost in thought that she did not see the person barrelling towards her until too late, by which time the two of them were a tangled mess of limbs on the floor.

"Ooff, well at least something soft broke my fall" came the voice from on top of her.

It took Hinata a few moments to gather herself when she realised someone was laying on top of her. The first thing she noticed was a mess of spiky blond hair right by her face and a pressure on her chest.

"Man this feels soft what are those balloons?" Naruto said.

While this was going on Hinata's mind went into meltdown "Naruto, on top of me" she thought as her face turned red.

"Aww crap!" Naruto yelled as he finally realised what he was latching onto as he leapt into the air looking like a scared kitten.

"Ah Hinata-chan I'm so sorry I didn't mean to" he said while shielding his face as if he were about to be struck.

"N-Naruto kun" Hinata barely stammered out.

"I-it wasn't on purpose I would never do that" Naruto said as he peeked in between his hands to look at Hinata mistaking her bewildered expression and red face for anger.

"I-I mean not that they weren't nice I bet a lot of guys would want to do that, I'm just surprised they were that big" Naruto stammered.

"Not that I'm a pervert or anything, It was totally an accident and… Hinata oi Hinata wake up"

Were the last words Hinata heard as her mind was unable to process what was happening around her.

* * *

Hinata was slowly returning to consciousness having had the strangest dream that she had just been felt up by Naruto causing her to let out a tiny perverted giggle.

"Jiji are you sure she doesn't need to go to the hospital, her face was really red and she might have hit her head on the floor" Naruto cried.

"Based on the story you just told me I am slightly surprised you are not the one on the floor unconscious Naruto-kun" said an elderly voice.

"Yea no kidding jiji, one time I accidentally brushed against Sakura-chan and she beat me into the floor" Naruto said.

"Yes those of the fairer sex for all their allure and mystery can transform at the drop of a hat into terrifying creatures" said the kindly old voice.

"Even for you jiji but you're the Hokage the strongest in the whole village, what do you have to be scared of?" said Naruto.

"Ah Naruto my boy after many years on this earth there is one thing I have learnt to be feared above all others and that is a woman's scorn" the now identified Hokage chuckled lightly.

"Oh man Hinata is going to beat the crap out of me" Naruto wailed.

"Well at least there are worse ways to go out, you at least got something out of the deal did you not?" said the Hokage laughing at his young charges embarrassment.

Hinata whose face had steadily been growing redder throughout the entire conversation chose this moment to sit up embarrassed.

Hinata now saw the Hokage laughing and Naruto with a look of abject fear on his face. All Hinata could do was avert her view from the pair and nervously press her fingers together.

"Okay Naruto-Kun I believe you owe Hinata an apology" the Hokage prompted.

"Oh yea right, I'm sorry Hinata-chan I wasn't looking where I was going and knocked you down, I'm also sorry for….. that." He said while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"I-it's okay N-Naruto-kun, I know it was an a-acident" she stammered while blushing from remembering the act.

"Still to make it up to you how about I buy you a bowl of Ramen!" he said enthusiastically.

"Naruto-kun not everyone loves ramen as much as you do" sighed Hiruzen at the child's antics.

"What! But Ramen is the best it is the food of the god's!" he exclaimed.

"Whether that is the case or not how about you ask Hinata what she would like to eat" Hiruzen said with a pointed glare.

"Oh yea, um what would you like Hinata-chan" Naruto said with one of his rare true smiles.

Hinata thought about it for a moment before smiling, "Well I could go for some ramen about now" she said smiling.

"Yes Hinata-chan is the best" he cried before hugging the girl forcing her to become red one again.

 **Reputation increased by 300 with Uzumaki Naruto**

Out of the corner of her eye Hinata saw the Hokage shake his head and smile fondly at the two of them.

"Tell you what Naruto-kun, why don't I join you my treat it's getting late now and I could do with some food" Hiruzen said.

"Really jiji that's great" Naruto cheered.

"T-thank you for your generosity Hokage-sama" Hinata said while bowing.

"Think nothing of it young ones, now let's go and grab some food" Hiruzen said while grabbing both kids shoulders and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

Sitting down at the bar in Ichiraku Ramen Hinata was digging into a bowl of Miso Ramen, It was no Cinnamon bun but it was a close second.

Naruto was digging into a bowl of pork Ramen while the Hokage was eating a bowl of beef.

"Hey Jiji what was that swirly move you use to get us here Kakashi sensei did the same thing to us during the test" Naruto asked while slurping more ramen.

"That Naruto is the **shunshin no jutsu** (Body flicker technique) a D rank technique used for short distance instantaneous movement." Said Hiruzen.

"Wow that's cool hey Jiji will you teach me" Naruto pleaded.

Hiruzen seemed to mull it over for a moment before speaking "well I don't have time to teach you" he said seeing Naruto's disappointed expression. "But I can give you a scroll so you can learn yourself, think of it as a reward for passing your genin test, you may have one as well if you like Hinata" Hiruzen said.

"Thank you Hokage-sama"

"Thanks Jiji"

Satisfied by being granted a kick ass new jutsu when they picked the scroll up tomorrow the trio went back to eating.

Soon after they were both finished but Hinata had a question she thought the Hokage could answer.

"Um, H-Hokage-sama" Hinata stuttered.

"Yes Hinata" Hiruzen said with a raised eyebrow.

"I was in the library earlier today" she started.

"An admirable use of time" Hiruzen said with a pointed look at Naruto.

"And I was reading a book on chakra control and it mentioned Chakra natures, do you know how I would find out my chakra nature?" Hinata asked.

"Hey Jiji what's a chakra nature?" Naruto asked.

"A chakra nature Naruto is which direction your chakra is naturally aligned to, now can you tell me the five main chakra natures?"

"Um **Katon** (Fire Release) **Futon** (Wind Release) **Raiton** (Lightning Release) Um…." Stumbled Naruto.

" **Suiton** (Water Release) and **Doton** (Earth Release)" Finished Hinata.

"Very good both of you" Hiruze praised.

"Yes a person's Chakra will always be aligned to one of these main elements, what this means is that they will have a type of Jutsu that is easier to master than others"

"For example if you had an affinity for fire you could learn Katon Jutsu more easily, however you would find Suiton Jutsu more difficult to learn." Hiruzen said.

"Hey that must be how Sasuke-teme can throw around loads of fireballs so easily" Naruto surmised.

"Hey Jiji how do you find out your Chakra Nature?" Naruto asked.

"Well those with a very high level of Chakra control can use a simple leaf but for others Chakra paper is the better option."

"Chakra paper?" Hinata questioned.

"Yes Chakra paper is a special chakra sensitive material made form special trees only found in Konoha and is one of our main exports. By channelling a small amount of Chakra into the paper one can learn their elemental affinity."

"If the paper burns it is Katon, if it crumbles it is Doton, if it scrunches up and crinkles Raiton, becomes wet Suiton and finally if it tears Futon." Hiruzen explained.

"Hokage-sama where could we get some Chakra paper?" Hinata asked.

"Well as it so happens I have two pieces on me right now so if you would like we could find out now." Hiruzen said getting enthusiastic nods from the children.

Hinata stared at the square piece of paper that had been handed to her with interest while to her side she heard a loud ripping noise.

"Hey Jiji does that mean I have a wind affinity?" Naruto asked.

"Yes Naruto it does and a very powerful wind affinity at that. Futon is naturally strong against Raiton but weak to Katon" Hiruzen explained getting a sour look from Naruto.

"Man weak to fire" Naruto grumbled.

"Now none of that Naruto while it may be weak to fire wind is often considered the most offensive element some even going as far as to call it the battle element" he explained.

"Unfortunately in the land of fire we have few Futon masters and only two I can think of in Konoha" Hiruzen mused.

"Hey Jiji will you introduce me" Naruto said getting right up in the Hokage's face with sparkling eyes.

"Naruto-kun relax, I'm not sure that is a good idea at the moment. Most shinobi don't begin elemental manipulation until they reach the rank of Chunin but if you prove to me you are ready I will put in a recommendation in the coming months, deal?" said Hiruzen.

"Okay Jiji deal" Naruto smiled.

"Hey Hinta-chan your turn I bet you have a kick ass element too" Naruto grinned.

Nodding her head Hinata stared at the piece of paper and let a steady stream of chakra flow into it and patiently waited for a response. After a few moments when nothing happened she increased the flow.

After a few more moments she allowed a deluge of Chakra to flow into the paper causing it to shine blue and a bead of sweat to trickle down her forehead.

After a moment she gasped in exhaustion with a confused look on her face only for the paper to be snatched from her hand.

"Stupid thing's broken" Naruto muttered as he tested it by pushing his own chakra in causing another loud rip to occur.

"What?" Naruto said in confusion missing the curious glance Hiruzen shot at Hinata.

"Most unusual" Hiruzen muttered to himself.

"Um H-Hokage-sama what does that mean?" Hinata stuttered.

"hmm I can't say I have ever encountered this before, It may mean that you are no more inclined for one element than any other, perhaps you are incapable of elemental manipulation or it could mean something entirely different….. Intriguing." Hiruzen mused.

"Don't let it discourage you however, for now we will monitor the situation and see how it progresses" said Hiruzen.

"Yes Hokage-sama"

* * *

After bidding them both good night Hinata started walking home with a lot of things on her mind. For some reason the chakra paper did not react to her chakra and now that had thrown a load of attention on her.

She was a little bit worried that her ability would get revealed due to her abnormal reaction to the chakra paper but for now all she could do was wait. While she had every intention of telling people eventually for now she would have preferred to keep it her little secret so that she could surprise the neigh sayers and people that would not give her the time of day.

Also after nearly being kidnapped by Kumo she did not want to know what people would do if it was discovered that Konoha had another powerful bloodline even more fearsome than the Byakugan.

Hinata was tempted to emulate her Nara classmate and call the situation troublesome then have a nap, unfortunately she did not have that option.

As Hinata pondered her predicament her mind turned back to something that might solve her dilemma.

"Perks" she called out brining up a new screen.

 **Current Perks**

 **Byakugan**

 **Team 8 Friendship- stats boosted by 10% while working cooperatively with team 8**

 **Available Perks**

 **Chakra Nature Water- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Wind- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Fire- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Earth- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Lightning- 1 point**

 **Black Widow- Increased damage against the opposite sex by 25%- 1 point**

 **Educated- 1 additional point per level- 1 point**

 **Explorer- able to bring up a mini map and advanced HUD- 1 point**

 **Chakra battery- additional 10 CP per level- 1 point**

 **Vitality- additional 10 HP per level- 1 point**

Looking at her perks screen Hinata had a thought perhaps the chakra paper had no effect because she had not purchased a nature and it would change when she had, this bore further thought.

She knew she had 1 spare perk point as it stood and she would acquire another at level 10. She was almost level 9 so it was not inconceivable that she could get the extra perk soon.

Either way this had been an exhausting day, she would think more on it in the morning.

 **Authors Notes**

 **Wow amazing response to last chapter guys, so here you go as promised a new chapter that I finished writing today a long chapter at that. I am going to put up a poll on my profile page that I want you guys to vote in to decide what Hinata's primary affinity will be. I will keep the poll up until I am ready to implement that into the story which at this point I am not sure how long that will be.**

 **Glad so many of you liked Iroh had a few Pm's and reviews about him. There probably won't be any bender verse stuff in this fic I just like Iroh and decided to put him in the story as a side character. But if lots of you want a few small elements to pop in then I may consider it but best to think of it like an easter egg.**

 **Also I want to know out of the new perks available what ones would you like Hinata to have I am curious, more will be revealed as she levels.**

 **Not sure when I can start the next chapter of this, i want to work on finishing off the last chapter for fate/another (which you should all read by the way) and I have a couple of interviews soon and work is manic.**

 **If you do want to know how far along I am I usually update my profile page with chapter updates so you can always check there regularly.**

 **I don't really have anything else to say so I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, if I did Sasuke would have died at the end and the female characters would have gotten some character development.

Important authors note at the end.

 **You have awakened HP and CP restored**

Hinata woke up in a surprisingly good mood, yesterday had been a very good day. She had gotten her first two friends and had gotten treated to ramen. If the Hokage had not been there it would have almost been like a date, she blushed as she considered it. What's more the Hokage was going to give her a Jutsu scroll, which she would pick up later today.

Also having had the chance to sleep on it Hinata made the decision about which perk to take. Opening up the perk menu Hinata made her choice and spent the point on **Educated**. It just made sense at this point she would gain an extra point to spend on developing herself per level, which meant she could get stronger that much faster.

One thing she did pick up was after all that work yesterday she did not get physically tired as a benefit of her gamer's body. As a result with her newly created training plan she could get much stronger as she could continually train even after sessions with her mental exhaustion would still be a factor it was useful none the less.

Activating her Byakugan Hinata could see people mingling about the Hyuga compound in the communal areas. Despite what people might think the Hyuga clan very much valued privacy much more than many as having the ability to invade it only highlighted how valuable privacy is. As such the walls of the Compound were coated in a special resin that distorted the Byakugan's vision showing only blurs, the exception to this were the communal areas.

The knowledge that this resin existed was a closely guarded secret of the clan and only five people knew how to create it at any one time ensuring that information was sparse.

As Hinata observed the figures beginning to rise she was surprised to see her sister up in one of the training grounds this early in the morning.

Having readied herself Hinata decided to wander over as she had not spoken to her sister much of late.

As Hinata approached the training ground she could see her sister practicing her kata's for the Juken. She was smooth, fast and powerful. Her foundation was rooted in place but could easily adapt if needed to strike out quickly, it was a sight to behold.

Hinata could not resist and observed her sister.

 **Hyuga Hanabi**

 **Level: 8**

 **Hanabi is a rising star within the main family and is thought to have more potential than her elder sister.**

 **HP: 200**

 **CP: 150**

 **Strength: 5**

 **Dexterity: 15**

 **Agility: 7**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 5**

 **Wisdom: 10**

 **Charisma: 10**

Hinata could not help but smile at how proficient Hanabi was at her age even if she was a little disappointed that observe was not showing any additional information yet, she resolved to keep observing people whenever she was out and about to level the useful skill faster.

As Hinata approached Hanabi whirled round her Byakugan active "Onee-san what are you doing here don't you have to meet your team?" her sister questioned.

"Good morning Hanabi-chan, I see you have improved again" she said kindly.

"Of course I'm a Hyuga it's only natural" Hanabi said puffing her chest out in pride.

Hinata inwardly grimaced at this she disliked how overly arrogant her clan could be and was disappointed to see her sister replicating it even if it was understandable with the praise she was regularly showered with.

The weak did not have the right to criticise the strong, so in order to change her clan for the better she had no choice but to become strong, she never did. Ruefully Hinata thought that her father and the elders would get what they wanted all along, a strong heir.

Hinata walked up to Hanabi and raised a hand to cup her sister's face rubbing it tenderly causing the younger girl to sport a blush.

"Hanabi-chan I'm very proud of you but don't forget pride comes before the fall. It is fine to be pleased with your growth but don't let it go to your head like others in this clan" She said softly.

Had it been anyone else they would have berated her, the disgrace from talking to them about any matter relating to pride but even though their relationship could sometimes be strained Hanabi still looked up to her big sister.

"Now I have to go Hanabi-chan be good" Hinata said kissing her sister on the forehead.

"Onee-san!" Hanabi spluttered in indignation turning her head away.

 **Reputation increased by 50 with Hyuga Hanabi**

Hinata had to hold in a laugh at how her little sister was such a Tsundere.

* * *

On the way to the mission office Hinata managed to level up observe two more times but unfortunately it still showed no new information, she theorised that perhaps when it hit level 15 it would.

Two unremarkable D rank missions later and team 8 were at the training ground once again, the only positive thing was that the experience allowed Hinata to level up.

Once more Hinata went on to spar against her teammates but unfortunately lost both matches by a smaller margin than last time, she felt that if she kept pushing herself she would be able to beat both of them soon.

After the sparing they spent the rest of the session practicing Chakra flow a couple of hours and two soldier pills later Hinata had gained two more levels in chakra flow increasing her boosts by another 2%.

One thing she did notice was that when Kiba and Shino successfully completed the technique for the first time they both instantly went up a level. This confused her as she was not aware learning a technique gave experience.

Hinata considered this for the rest of the session until she came to the realisation that no one other than her gained experience at all. She developed a theory that the levels that she saw on anyone else were different to her own as while she could actively chose her growth other people got stronger the traditional way.

She figured this meant their level was merely a representation of their threat level as her bloodline perceived it. So Shino and Kiba learning a technique that made them stronger correlated to their level or threat assessment increasing.

It would make sense as there was no way they would arbitrarily get stronger like she did just because Kurenai was their teacher but while they might not gain the points in wisdom and intelligence it made sense that her teachings would rub off on them making them smarter and wiser.

This clearly bore more thought, would her potential to grow taper off at some point allowing her teammates to catch up to her with more constant stable growth? As it was she saw how much more exp it would cost each level. Honestly she was not sure if her theory was even correct in the first place, all she could do was to continue to observe her teammates and catalogue the results.

It was possible she was overthinking this assuming that her ability had a downside like tapering off at a certain point. It was just so unusual for Hinata to have something this good happen to her, either way it would be a good idea to keep track of this sort of stuff anyway.

This brought up an idea that Hinata wanted to explore so catching up with her team before they left Hinata pulled Kiba to the side.

"Um Kiba-kun do you have a moment?" Hinata asked.

"Sure Hinata what's up" Kiba said.

"Um its Hanabi-chans birthday soon and I wanted to get her something, recently she has been getting into games on her Kunai station 2 and I wanted to get her an RPG guide telling her how best to play"

Kiba raised his eyebrows at this not expecting the stoic Hyuga clan to allow gaming.

"No problem Hinata tell you what since training is over I'll show you a shop in town that sells all the best stuff" Kiba grinned.

 **Acting has increased by 1**

 **Charisma has increased by 1**

* * *

Sometime later Hinata found herself back in the Hyuga compound methodically going over a strategy guide she had bought with Kiba earlier costing 10 Ryo. The guide did not give her any skills from using it but it did give her wealth of new ideas.

Hinata decided that the way she had been training was all wrong, since she had a gamer's body she could do physical training while training something like leaf sticking at the same time or just having her Byakugan active till she ran out of chakra to level it up.

Normally all prolonged use of the Byakugan would do was strain your eyes but Hinata was a gamer something she still struggled to wrap her mind around.

For a moment Hinata almost thought that it would be unfair to abuse her new skill like this but then she remembered all the cold condescending looks she received from her so called family. No she would use this ability to its full potential.

"I'm not a failure with this power I can heal the division in my clan" she said with resolve.

Turning to her right she picked up the scroll she had gotten from the Hokage's office before returning home. As she opened the scroll a message popped up.

 **Would you like to learn the Shunshin no jutsu (Body flicker technique)**

 **Y/N**

Hitting the yes button another message popped up.

 **Unable to learn technique requires agility 20**

This was the first time a message like that had popped up before; apparently some techniques required certain status parameters in order to be learnt.

"Well no time like the present" Hinata said.

As she got up she dusted herself off and made her way outside the clan compound. It was currently about 7pm which meant she could get a good 4 hours of training in before she should head home.

Before she headed out she made her way to a nearby tree and plucked several leaves off one of the branches and stuffed them into her pockets to make sure she had plenty spare. Looking at her inventory she saw she had two soldier pills remaining.

 **Soldier Pill: restores 100 CP**

Frowning she realized that she would need a greater source of income if she wanted to keep buying these things but for today it would have to be enough. Chakra flow was too costly a skill to level up for the moment but for now she would focus on leaf sticking while she ran round the village.

Placing one of the leaves on her forehead Hinata knew that she could last for about 48 minutes with her current chakra capacity.

With nothing left to do she broke out into a sprint heading towards the outer walls of Konoha, as she was running she decided to observe her surroundings. She noticed most of the civilians were between level 2-5. Surprisingly she even noticed what looked to be a few Anbu operatives cloaked in shadows, if she was not mistaken one bird masked anbu seemed particularly taken off guard that he had been spotted by a genin no less and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. It seemed finding harder targets were worth more experience as her observe skill finally hit level 15.

Hinata noticed a few more Anbu operatives but one in particular stood out.

 **Name: Aburame Torune**

 **Class: Root Anbu**

 **Title: One who dwells in shadows (+ 25% to stealth and assassination skills)**

 **Teacher: Shimura Danzo**

 **Level: ?**

 **Son of Aburame Shikuro Torune was unable to go to the academy due to being unable to fully control his Kikaichu hive. He was later recruited by Shimura Danzo to join his root anbu which were purported to have been disbanded during the second Shinobi world war.**

It seemed this anbu was too high a level for her to get much more but Observe now seemed to show class, title and teachers for the observed subject. The anbu seemed to be intently observing a blue haired teen that seemed to be heading towards the red light district. One thing that stood out was that the anbu was apparently part of Shino's clan.

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **THE ROOTS OF KONOHA**

 **OBJECTIVE: Find out about roots history**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Who is Aburame Torune**

 **MAIN REWARD: 800 EXP**

 **BONUS REWARD: 250 EXP**

 **Y/N**

By the time Hinata finished looking over the new quest report the Anbu had already gone. She had a slightly uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach about the knowledge that a supposedly decommissioned branch of anbu was still running around.

* * *

An hour and a half later and Hinata was still running she was part way through her second lap round Konoha when she was almost bowled over by two green blurs that sped off into the distance.

30 minutes later the same thing occurred followed by it happening one more when Hinata finally finished her second lap of the village.

As Hinata managed to pick herself up she saw a hand in front of her face offering to help her to her feet.

"Aha what a grand display of youthfulness, it seems we have competition in our late night training sessions Lee. We must endeavour to work harder so as not to lose to our newest comrade on the path of youth!" declared a tall man wearing a green jumpsuit and a frightening bowl cut.

"Yosh Gai sensei we must train twice as hard, no three times as hard in order to stoke the fires of our youth and turn it into a raging inferno!" shouted what looked like a smaller clone of the man.

"Well said my youthful student!" said the taller man flashing his student with a resplendent smile and a thumbs up.

Hinata now back on her feet realised that these two were Neji nii-san's teammates.

"Good evening Gai sensei, lee-san" Hinata said with a formal bow.

"Good evening Hinata-san what brings you out this late in the evening to stoke the fires of your youth?" asked Gai.

"I am currently trying to improve my physical condition a bit and improve my speed" Hinata answered shyly.

"Ah a commendable achievement wouldn't you say Lee?" said Gai.

"Yosh Gai sensei, I have been moved by Hinata-sans determination, in light if this I will run round Konoha twice more tonight. If I cannot do this I will do 1000 pushups standing upside down with one finger!" Lee said flashing Hinata the nice guy pose with tears in his eyes.

Seeing his student's display of emotion Gai also began to tear up.

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

The two shouted as they ran to embrace each other and the scenery shifted to show a beautiful sunset and the sound of crashing waves.

"Byakugan" Hinata said activating her doujutsu.

"B-but that's impossible not even the Byakugan can see through it, what type of genjutsu is this" Hinata stated in fear. Deactivating her Byakugan to conserve what little chakra she had left the two separated thankfully.

"In honour of finding a new comrade on the path of youth allow me to offer you a gift" said a smiling gai who pulled out a storage scroll.

Applying some chakra the scroll proofed open to reveal a set of ankle and wrist weights and a green jumpsuit.

"These will be an excellent start on your youthful journey" Gai said.

Taking a moment Hinata observed the items.

 **Beginner Wrists weights (common quality) reduce HP by 25 when worn. Whenever a point of strength or vitality is earned gain an extra point up to 25 in said stat (not from level up points).**

 **Beginner Ankle Weight (Common Quality) Reduce HP by 25 when worn. Whenever a point of Agility or Dexterity is earned gain an extra point up to 25 in said stat (not from level up points).**

 **Green Jumpsuit (Rare Quality) Charisma -25, +5 Vitality, strength and Agility.**

Hinata had to restrain her eyebrow from twitching slightly, the boosts that jumpsuit conveyed were actually really good but she was certain she would be disowned and branded with the caged bird seal if anyone in her clan so much as caught a glimpse of her in it. The training weights on the other hand were very good and she wished she knew about them before she started running today, as it was she had gained 3 points of agility from physical training and an additional 2 points from levelling up her running skill, in addition to 3 points of vitality and gotten the leaf sticking exercise to level 5.

What she had noticed about the leaf sticking exercise was that at every even level so far it had given her a point of wisdom and at every odd level reduced the chakra cost of her techniques by 1%, something similar could be said for the running skill. Currently the skill was reducing the chakra cost of all techniques by 7%.

"Thank you very much gai-sensei Lee-san I'm sure these will help me be... a lot more youthful in my future endeavours?" she said uncertainly .

 **Reputation with Might Gai increased by 100**

 **Reputation with Rock Lee increased by 100**

Both Master and pupil flashed her once again with the nice guy pose before shouting about burning youth and running off into the distance.

While it may have been very weird the book told her to never turn away free loot.

* * *

The next day after missions and training Hinata was debating how to find out about the mysterious anbu from the day before. She knew she had to tread lightly around the subject as Shimura Danzo was one of the Sandaime's councillors and held a lot of power within Konoha.

If what she learnt was true that this 'root' was supposed to be disbanded it did not bode well for her to make her information gathering too overt.

"Shino-kun do you have a moment" Hinata asked as the Aburame was packing up his things in preparation to go home for some much needed food.

Shino turned to face her and inclined his head in assent.

Taking the visual cue Hinata continued, "Shino-kun I was wondering but are any of your clansmen apart of the Anbu services" she asked.

Shino cocked his head slightly to the side the only affirmation of his confusion due to the question. "That is an unusual question Hinata-san, as far as I am aware none of my clansmen are currently enlisted with Anbu due to our unique skill set we often end up as hunter nin" Shino elaborated.

"May I ask what has brought up this line of enquiry" he questioned.

Thinking fast Hinata replied "Um I was just curious, I happened to see an anbu member during my self training yesterday that used what looked like your clan techniques, It just happened to rouse my curiosity" Hinata explained hoping Shino would buy the half truth.

Shino's gaze never left her face as she spoke, it was a little unsettling seeing her teammate so attentive especially when she mentioned that the Anbu had used Aburame techniques.

"I see" Shino said as he seemed to pause in thought. "This is most unusual; I will raise the issue with my father when I return. Did you notice anything else about this Anbu?" Shino said.

Deciding to take a risk Hinata said "Now that you mention it he was addressed by another anbu before he left and I think I happened to catch a name, Tume... no Torne... no thats not it-"

"Torune" Shino said interrupting Hinata.

"Yes Torune, that was it" Hinata said playing up her forgetfulness.

Due to the increased time she spent around Shino; Hinata picked up something most people would have missed the Aburame's brow furrowed ever so slightly denoting his worry.

"Shino-kun are you alright, that name seemed to take you by surprise" Hinata asked.

Shino remained quiet for a moment before shaking his head and sighing an action that took Hinata completely by surprise as this was the most expressive she had ever seen Shino.

"I am fine... it was just not a name I thought I would ever hear again" replied Shino a touch of sadness bleeding into his usually stoic voice.

"Shino-kun who is Torune?" Hinata asked.

Shino seemed to mull it over for a few moments before finally speaking "Aburame Torune is my cousin" he said quietly.

"Torune was three years my senior and always looked out for me when I was younger until one day when I was six he suddenly vanished. I asked my father about him but he always told me Torune had run away due to being rejected from the academy. Torune had a condition that made his chakra more potent than normal as such his Hive became unstable and would often lash out at anyone not from our clan, as such he was deemed to be too much of a danger to the other students" Shino said sullenly.

"My father always said that they could never find him, but my father is on the Shinobi council so he would have an input when applications for anbu would be drafted." Shino pondered.

Shino began to pace back and forth across the training field a steady buzzing sound could be heard emanating from him as the only other sign of his agitation.

Suddenly Shino stopped his pacing and turned towards Hinata, "If Torune was truly in Anbu then there is no way my father could not have known, so either my father lied to me or there is something else afoot" Shino deduced.

Hinata considered telling him about root but that would invite far too many questions that she would not have adequate answers for without revealing her powers, something that she was not ready to do yet.

"Hinata-san I ask that you forget about what you have just told me, there are too many variables and this is now a clan matter" Shino said.

Hinata could only nod her head "Okay Shino-kun" she lied "I'll leave this to you then"

Shino nodded his head in affirmation before leaving the training ground his brows furrowed in concentration.

Once Shino left Hinata let out a breath that she did not know she was holding, honestly she did not like lying to people, especially her friends but she was a Shinobi so even if she took no pleasure in it she knew that sometimes it was necessary.

 **To fool your enemies you must sometimes learn to fool your friends** , **through a specific action**

 **Acting has increased by 1**

 **Acting has increased by 1**

 **Charisma has increased by 1**

 **Acting has increased by 1**

Apparently she had done a good job of convincing Shino though she was not sure how she felt about being rewarded for deceiving a friend.

* * *

A Short while later Hinata found herself back in the library a copy of the book Konoha a military history sat in front of her. The book itself was actually quite interesting as it had copies of handwritten accounts from all the past Hokage even the Yondaime. One thing Hinata found interesting was that the Yondaime had a similar writing habbit to Naruto and signed Namikaze with a little swirl at the end which was very reminiscent of how Naruto signed Uzumaki.

Having learnt to make better use of her time Hinata sat with a leaf sticking to her forehead which had drawn strange looks from some of the other genin but nods of approval from the desk chunin. The looks were worth it as since she had gotten here she had already gained three levels in the skill.

Finally she discovered the section of the book that talked about root, apparently root was an initiative proposed by Shimura danzo to fast track graduations from the academy during the second Shinobi world war using a short intensive course rather than the full academy term.

According to the book the initiative was never acted on as it was felt it would compromise the future growth of those Shinobi. Apart from this small reference she had been unable to find any other information regarding root.

As she was considering this she got a new notification.

 **QUEST COMNPLETED**

 **THE ROOTS OF KONOHA**

 **OBJECTIVE: Find out about roots history**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Who is Aburame Torune**

 **MAIN REWARD: 800 EXP**

 **BONUS REWARD: 250 EXP**

To Hinata this seemed odd her ability had specifically told her that root had been an anbu squad during the second Shinobi world war. Yes it was possible that the training programme was a front for roots operations but even so what the book said was untrue.

It occurred to Hinata that root was obviously not supposed to be common knowledge and was likely swept under the rug, therefore any information she was likely to find in and publicly assessable documents or even documents available to genin was likely to be untrue.

As Hinata closed the mission completion screen another message popped up.

 **You have levelled up**

 **You have reached level 10 a new skill has been created**

 **New skill: Instant dungeon creation**

 **New skill: Instant dungeon escape**

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **WHAT LIES BENEATH**

 **OBJECTIVE: Find out the true nature of root and conclusive proof that root is still operating. Give this proof to a relevant party.**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **MAIN REWARD: 10,000 EXP 5000 Ryo**

 **BONUS REWARD: ?,?,?,?**

 **Y/N**

Hinata's eyes widened slightly, that was a lot of experience, in fact it was more experience than she had earned to date. This was clearly a larger issue than she realised and it seemed she had been right to keep this information close to her chest.

* * *

Somewhere deep in the bowels of Konoha a man stood before a large mirror examining his own features carefully. The years had not been kind his remaining eye was sunken in and lines of age marred his face; most would look at the man and only see weakness. His crippled arm, his scarred face the fact that he had sustained these injuries must surely be a sign of weakness.

However what all but a few seemed to realise was that behind this frail exterior and passive mask was the keen intellect of an experienced Shinobi. Yes he may have scars but he was still here where others far more lauded than him had fallen.

Hashirama. Tobirama. Minato.

While his name was not among those whose faces adorned the village make no mistake he was a power all the same. If they were the light he was the darkness, if they were the leaves he was the great roots that spread throughout the land in order to nourish the great tree. All that basked in the light did so because of his efforts; even if these efforts would never be acknowledged.

He was the Shinobi no Yami, he was Shimura Danzo.

Over the years he had been careful not to tip his hand, Hiruzen while powerful was unfit to be Hokage. He was too soft he always let emotions rule his actions and never had the strength of will to do what was necessary. At the end of the war Konoha was in a position of strength, rather than press this advantage he had sued for peace, a mistake.

He was no fool, unlike what some believed he did not relish war but he was loathe to waste such an opportunity to further Konoha. No war was useless it was far better to work from the shadows, crippling your enemies without them being aware it was you, and cripple his enemies he had.

Following the Hyuga kidnapping attempt in the eyes of the world Kumo had gotten off scot free while in reality his root agents assassinated 10% of Kumo's jounin within the next two years. This loss of strength was one of the main reasons the situation did not escalate to war. Though no one would ever admit it or give him thanks it was still the roots that protect and nourish the tree.

Yet at every turn Hiruzen seemed to hamper his efforts, having to take root underground had been a blessing in disguise but Hiruzen's refusal to let him train the Kyubi Jinchuriki still vexed him to this day.

The boy had so much potential; the raw power at his disposal as well as his lineage made him a potent weapon in the traditional sense and the political arena. If he had gotten a hold of the boy he would have transformed him into the perfect agent, the second coming of the Kiiroi Senko with the might of the most powerful tailed beast. In the end the idea had to be abandoned, the child was too high profile to get away with inducting like he had with many others.

Some would call his methods cruel but to him they were practical, the boy would have had a much better upbringing as one of his agents instead of being the embarrassment he saw today.

His agents were perfect, absolute loyalty and expert training. He broke each and every one of them so that he could build them back up stronger than before, faster than before, better than before.

Recently his new acquisitions had proven to be an excellent investment. With the growing unrest in Kiri it had been a simple matter to gain new recruits.

In a few more years he would be ready, in much the same way the great tree does not sprout overnight the roots cannot quickly encompass the land but given time they would worm their way in before anyone was ever the wiser.

As he finished his thoughts the door opened to reveal one of his most loyal operatives.

Torune was a truly spectacular find, he had been written off by his clan and as such was malleable and eager to prove himself. While others considered his traits unruly danzo saw a diamond in the rough that just needed a different method of training.

Danzo had given the boy strength, the strength to never be looked down on again and Torune had given him loyalty. He had broken the boy, he had put him through such trials that most would beg for death, but he came through it all.

He was currently his third best operative and was unwaveringly loyal. Most may assume that all of his agents were mindless tools, but an unwilling tool was often unruly and inefficient. At times it was necessary some tools refused to learn their place but a willing weapon was always preferable.

He would save them from poverty, torture, rape and whatever unfortunate situation they found themselves in. He would give them a place to belong; he would give them whatever they needed be it food or revenge. For the dregs of society who had seen no kindness in their lives even the smallest taste was like an oasis in the dessert.

He had once tried to condition all his agents, to make them blindly obedient but that had resulted in too many failures. Sometimes emotions were necessary rage can give you strength, fear can help you survive; the key was being able to control these emotions. Emotions also gave him something to prey on, the one thing all these poor souls wanted was power, they hated their own weakness, so that was exactly what he gave them.

Once they had a taste of power, true power for the first time in their lives few would ever willingly give it up, yes a willing tool was much more effective than a mindless husk.

"Danzo-sama I have my report" Torune said.

"Speak Torune" said Danzo.

"The new recruits from Kirigakure are going through conditioning and it is our hope that they may be added to our combat strength when the plan is enacted" Torune reported.

Danzo beckoned for him to continue.

"Orochimaru has approached the Kazekage and everything seems to be going as planned. We are still preparing our contingencies to deal with the snake once the plan has concluded, Yakushi does not realise I have been following him." Torune reported.

"hhhm, everything appears to be progressing smoothly, did you have anything else to report?"

"Yes Danzo-Sama, while I was on patrol I was spotted by a member of the Hyuga clan" Torune reported.

This was a shock to the old Shinobi as long ago he had stolen the secret to the Hyuga's resin and incorporated it into all root uniforms to render them virtually invisible to the Byakugan.

"Explain" commanded Danzo.

"She did not detect me with her Byakugan, in fact according to our sources she has not even unlocked it" Torune said.

Intrigued by this response Danzo commented "am I to assume it was the Hyuga heiress that spotted you Torune?" he commented.

"Yes Danzo-sama she appeared to be able to identify my position without the aid of her Doujutsu, a feat even trained anbu operatives have been unsuccessful in."

Danzo ruminated on this for a moment "one of the reasons I have lived for as long as I have is that I do not believe in coincidences, Torune I want you to assign Sai to watch the girl. I had written her off as a failure, it does not happen often but every now and then I am forced to revaluate my opinion" Danzo stated.

"Yes Danzo-sama" Torune said before exiting to fulfil his orders.

Danzo once again alone sat behind his desk and steepled his fingers clearly in thought.

"Indeed it is not often I have to revaluate my opinions, Hyuga Hinata you have my attention"

* * *

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 10 Exp to next level 216/1658**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **CP: 250/250**

 **Strength: 9**

 **Dexterity: 25 (0.25)**

 **Agility: 11 (0.22)**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 15**

 **Wisdom: 19 (0.19)**

 **Charisma: 3**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 12**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 890**

* * *

Skills

 **Gamers Body Max**

Grants the User a body that functions like a game. After sleep in a bed restore Hp, Cp and any abnormal status effect.

 **Project Killing Intent Level: 4**

A chance to frighten off an enemy with lower Defence against killing intent than your Project Killing Intent.

 **Detect Poison Level: 1**

1% chance to detect poison in a consumed or detected item.

 **Juken Level: 1**

Passively increases dex by 1%

Passively increases Wis by 1%

 **Weapons Kunai and Shuriken Level: 17**

Passively increases Kunai and shuriken damage by 17%

 **Stealth level: 11**

Passively increases stealth by 11%

 **Observe** **Level: 15**

Through constant observation information may be gathered about an object or person. Information received is level dependant.

 **Acting Level: 5**

The ability to hide deceive and hide ones emotions with a carefully formed mask.

 **Running Level: 4**

Passively increases agility by 2%

 **Cooking Level: 1**

Increases the effectiveness of prepared foods by 5%

 **Chakra Flow Level: 4**

By channelling chakra to the limbs the user is able to enhance their physical stats.

While active increases:

Strength by 23%

Agility by 23%

Cost 20 CP per minute.

 **Leaf Sticking Level: 8**

Passively reduces the chakra cost of all techniques by 8%

Cost 5 CP per minute.

 **Instant Dungeon Creation Level: 1**

Allows the user to create an instant dungeon that can only be accessed by the creator and their party.

 **Instant Dungeon Escape Level: 1**

Allows the user and their party to escape from an instant dungeon.

* * *

 **Vilified-Hated-Disliked-Neutral-Liked-Friendly-Honoured-Exalted**

 **Reputation is scored of 1000, after reaching this threshold reputation can go up a level.**

 **Kohoha Shinobi – Neutral – 16/1000**

 **Konoha Civilians – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Hyuga Main Family – Disliked – 0/1000**

 **Hyuga Branch Family – Friendly – 20/1000**

 **Hyuga Hiashi – Disliked – 0/1000**

 **Hyuga Hanabi – Friendly – 70/1000**

 **Hyuga Neji – Hated – 0/1000**

 **Uzumaki Naruto – Liked 370/1000**

 **Uchiha Sasuke – Disliked – 0/1000**

 **Haruno Sakura – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Yamanaka Ino – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Akamichi Chouji – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Nara Shikamaru – Neutral – 0/1000**

 **Inuzuka Kiba – Friendly -0/1000**

 **Aburame Shino – Friendly – 0/1000**

 **Yuhi Kurenai – Honoured – 0/1000**

 **Iroh- Friendly – 0/1000**

 **Lu Ten- Friendly – 0/1000**

 **Might Gai- Liked – 80/1000**

 **Rock Lee – Liked – 80/1000**

* * *

 **Ongoing Quests**

 **REASON FOR SCORN**

 **Objective: Find out why the villagers hate Naruto**

 **Bonus Objective: Confront Naruto with the truth**

 **Reward: 8000 exp**

 **Bonus Reward: ?, ?**

* * *

 **WHAT LIES BENEATH**

 **OBJECTIVE: Find out the true nature of root and conclusive proof that root is still operating. Give this proof to a relevant party.**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **MAIN REWARD: 10,000 EXP 5000 Ryo**

 **BONUS REWARD: ?,?,?,?**

* * *

 **Authors Notes**

Hi all sorry for the brief gap in updates, unfortunately I may be unable to update for a while as I have recently been made redundant. Those who have read my other authors notes know I had been looking to leave my job anyway so I had already started the search so hopefully it won't be too long before I find something, but that has to be my priority.

As such this chapter ended up around 6.5k but originally it was supposed to be about 10-12 as a long chapter. I had originally planned for the first dungeon to be in this chapter but I have not had time to write, so rather than this sit on my pc for another month I thought I should upload what I have. Sorry if this one lacks some polish again very busy, please PM me if you spot any mistakes.

If you have not done so please vote in the poll on my website for Hinata's affinity the results for two choices are neck and neck at the moment. At the end of this month i will take the poll down and eliminate the bottom two options and repost it one last time, so this is your chance to have an impact on the story.

Just in case anyone calls me on it I know an Anbu would not refer to another one by Name but Hinata does not know this and if Shino does he was too distracted by the reveal to pay attention.

Also I do post how close I am to an update on my profile so if you want to know about the progress for the next chapter check there regularly.

Also for those interested in this story conversion rate is 1£/$= 2 ryo. I am currently thinking standard mission pay (can vary depending on the mission) should be:

D rank: 50 ryo per person

C rank: 500 ryo per person

B rank: 5000 ryo per person

A rank: 50,000 ryo per person

S rank 500,000 ryo per person

What do people think too cheap or too expensive? Personally I think this sounds about right though.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter and the story in general good or bad I love getting feedback.


	6. Chapter 6

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, if I did Naruto would have acknowledged Hinata's confession in the pain arc in the actual series and not in a movie.

 **Important Authors note at the end.**

 **You have awakened HP and CP restored**

As the light began to seep through her windows Hinata awoke feeling refreshed and alert. She still had not gotten used to waking up like clockwork every morning feeling so energised.

It was a well kept secret in the clan that most Hyuga woke up looking like death, their hair got tangled into an untameable mess and they woke up grouchy and irritable. Not many people would ever imagine her father rolling out of bed scruffy and irritable, especially since he and the rest of the clan always tried to perpetuate the image of control and precision at all times. Hinata had to chuckle at that and she guessed it was true the masks that people wear are often the furthest from their true nature.

Still Hinata had never had to deal with those problems unlike her sister that tended to look like a creature from the bog when she woke up. Apparently Hinata's good fortune was something she inherited from her mother. Her clan was so image conscious that they even went as far as to develop a field kit to keep themselves looking prim and proper while on missions.

After grabbing a quick shower and preparing herself for the day Hinata made her way leisurely towards her team's training grounds.

Honestly she always loved this time of day the Sun was just peaking over the Horizon and illuminated the village in a soft orange glow. She had to wonder if this was what the elders meant by the will of fire as Konoha was illuminated bearing no small resemblance to a tiny flame that grew bigger and bigger as the sun rose in the sky.

It was at this time that Hinata saw all of the merchants hard at work setting up their stalls for the day. Seeing this she decided to wonder over to see if there were any interesting goods today.

She ambled through the stalls seeing goods on offer from all over the country and beyond, it seemed that there was a recent shipment from Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) as many merchants seemed to have clothes on offer that resembled the latest styles there.

Thanks to Konoha's alliance with Suna they regularly got trade goods from there whilst goods from Kumo, Iwa or Kiri were extremely hard to come by and often very expensive as not many merchants were willing to make the journey.

Not in the mood for clothes shopping Hinata made her way over to a fruit stall to buy an apple for later.

As she approached the stall she decided to see which ones looked the best and on a whim decided to observe the fruit to see if it gave her any more information.

 **Apple (Common Quality)**

 **A fresh and delicious apple grown in Hi no Kuni (Land of fire) a tasty snack.**

 **Restores 25 HP**

Seeing the health benefits from the apple Hinata bought 10 for 5 RYO and once she was out of sight se stored them in her inventory to keep them fresh.

After making her way through the market she eventually made it to the team 8 training field where Kiba and Shino were waiting for her.

"Good Morning Kiba-Kun, Shino-Kun" Hinata greeted cheerfully as she walked over to join her teammates.

"Hey Hinata-Chan morning" Kiba said grinning while Shino merely nodded.

Kiba seemed to be his normal boisterous self while Shino seemed even more withdrawn than usual. While she really wanted to find out what was wrong she felt it was best if for now she let her teammate gather his thoughts.

As she joined her teammates they eventually lapsed into a comfortable silence with Kiba occasionally cracking a joke.

Even though they had been a team for less than a week they already seemed to learn each other's preferences. While herself and Shino tended to be quiet they still engaged with Kiba, and Kia was learning when to curb his normal boisterousness and enjoy some silence every now and then.

Eventually it passed the time where Kurenai would normally meet them by about 15 minutes before someone flashed into the clearing in a swirl of leaves.

"Hello everyone I'm sorry I'm late" Kurenai said as she approached the team.

As she approached all three genin leapt to their feet and entered a defensive formation with Kiba at the tip and Shino and Hinata on either side.

Hinata looked at her teammates and saw them stiffen before waiting a few moments and seeing them both nod.

Hinata then activated her Byakugan and let out a sigh of relief which caused both of her teammates to relax from their stances.

Meanwhile Kurenai had an amused look on her face as she observed her Genin.

"Well that was certainly interesting" she said as she watched them drop their guard.

"We apologise Sensei, however you have yet to display tardiness before today and following our Genin test we decided it would always be prudent to act on any suspicions we may have in future" Shino replied for the team.

"Don't worry Shino, there is no need to apologise; in fact I am very impressed. You were absolutely right I did turn up late which is uncharacteristic of me so I could have been an imposter who had dealt with your real Sensei" Kurenai continued.

"Granted this was unlikely right in the middle of Konoha but it is still a good habit to get into especially considering your abilities. Let me guess Kiba confirmed my scent while Shino took a sample of my Chakra and Hinata reaffirmed if I was me while also looking to see if I was under any Genjutsu" Kurenai stated more than asked.

The three Genin were slightly taken back that their motives were discerned so quickly but then conceded that she was a Jonin for a reason.

"Now as to the reason I am so late I have been assigned a mission so I will be unable to conduct training today" Kurenai said.

Just as Kiba was about to burst out speaking Kurenai raised a hand to silence him "I know this is not ideal Kiba especially considering that this is your first week of training but it can't be avoided, it is a B ranked mission directly from the Hokage" Kurenai said.

"Whoa a B rank can you tell us anything Sensei?" Kiba begged.

"Hmm at this moment in time not much, I can tell you that I will be in Konoha for the duration of the mission and my expertise as a genjutsu specialist is why they have assigned it to me. The mission poses no risk to myself as I am assisting an injured comrade who came back from a mission in Oto no Kuni" She elaborated.

The three genin nodded at her explanation all three of them hoping they would get more details at a later date.

"Um Sensei how long do you think this mission will last for?" Hinata queried.

"It's hard to say, hopefully no more than a day or two but I have been authorised to postpone our training until Monday" Kurenai said.

"However don't think you can get away with skiving off for three days, you will have homework during that time" she said as she tossed them a scroll each.

"That scroll contains **Genjutsu: Shinkiro** (Illusion technique: Mirage) a D rank Genjutsu, I know neither Aburame, Inuzuka nor Hyuga typically use Genjutsu but this is a great opportunity to expand your repertoire and unleash something your opponent would not expect."

"This Genjutsu allows you to create a very basic Mirage, not enough to obscure you or anything like that but it could definitely confuse your opponent" Kurenai explained.

"How's that Sensei" Kiba questioned.

"For example Kiba you could use it to create a blizzard of petals distracting your opponent long enough for you or Akamaru to get in close. Shino you could use it to create an illusion of your insects so your opponent attacks the fake swarm while your real swarm gets in close. Hinata you could use the illusion to make your opponent think your reach is longer or shorter than it actually is so they get hit by surprise blows, the beauty of that is it's so subtle most people would not realise they are caught in a Genjutsu." Kurenai explained as her Genin developed wide eyes.

"The beauty of Genjutsu is being creative and finding different ways to use the same trick, a Genjutsu like this draws its strength from the user's imagination and how clearly they can visualise what they want rather than using an opponent's subconscious fears." Kurenai explained.

"Ultimately Genjutsu is art, true art is something that captures and ensnares the senses not some stupid jutsu that throws a fire ball and explodes. Most people overlook Genjutsu, but they tend to be the ones without imagination." She said.

"Therefore your assignment is to learn this Genjutsu before Monday's training and come up with three unique uses each for the technique even if you can't perform all of them." She said.

 **STORY QUEST CREATED**

 **MY FIRST GENJUTSU**

 **OBJECTIVE: learn Genjutsu: Shinkiro and come up with three unique uses.**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Able to demonstrate one of those uses**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Able to demonstrate two of those uses**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Able to demonstrate three of those uses**

 **MAIN REWARD: 200 EXP, 100 Reputation with Kurenai**

 **BONUS REWARD: 50 EXP**

 **BONUS REWARD: 100 EXP**

 **BONUS REWARD: Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique)**

 **Y**

Hinata saw the quest notice come up and noticed that she had no choice but to accept it, not that that was an issue as she had been interested in Genjutsu for a while.

"Anyway I have a mission to complete so we will meet back here on Monday morning, if the mission overruns I will make sure you are informed beforehand." Kurenai said before disappearing once more in a swirl of leaves.

"Ugh man Genjutsu, this is gonna be hard" Kiba groaned.

"Arf" Akamaru whined from below him.

"I know, I know no pain no gain but I always sucked with this stuff" Kiba complained eliciting a giggle from Hinata.

"Aw man now Hinata-Chan is laughing at me" Kiba lamented.

After composing herself Hinata attempted to console her teammate "I'm s-sorry Kiba-Kun but your face was so funny" she apologised.

"Eh no sweat it, anyway I'm sure you and Shino will do great at this" he commented.

Hearing his name spoken was enough to pull Shino out of his deep thoughts "Actually I will most likely struggle for different reasons Kiba-san" Shino said.

Both Hinata and Kiba looked at him expectantly as if urging him to continue "Due to the nature of my family techniques a large portion of my chakra is always dedicated to maintaining my hive. This is the reason you do not see many Aburame using many non clan Jutsu as that Chakra is forced to come from what's left of our reserves rather than what we feed our Hive" Shino explained.

Hinata nodded her acceptance and then activated her Byakugan paying closer attention to Shino's chakra coils. She noticed that at several points in his body Chakra seemed to get diverted to several clusters of smaller chakra signatures.

"Anyway what do you guys want to do on Sunday to celebrate our first week as Genin?" Kiba said.

"Perhaps we should go in search of sustenance" suggested Shino.

"Huh what?" said Kiba looking thoroughly confused.

"I-I t-think he means we should go out for food" said Hinata felling a bit embarrassed at having to translate.

"heh sounds good, you should have just said so Shino, how about we go to Yakiniku Q I hear it's supposed to be good" Kiba said.

"Acceptable" Shino replied.

"That's okay with me" Hinata said with a small smile and a blush creeping up to her face.

"Okay then, well I call this meeting of team 8 to a close, I'm off to train can't have you guys catching up with me now can I" Kiba said with a cheeky grin before he and Akamaru dashed off.

Shino inclined his head towards Hinata before he too departed.

"Right I guess I should do some training of my own now I guess"

* * *

It felt strange being in their training ground by herself but useful for her purposes. A quick scan of her surroundings with the Byakugan confirmed she was alone.

Fishing out the scroll Hinata got a notification.

 **Would you like to learn Genjutsu: Shinkiro**

 **Y/N**

Clicking yes Hinata saw the scroll dissolve into motes of light that were quickly absorbed by her body.

 **A new Jutsu has been learnt**

 **Genjutsu: Shinkiro Level: 1**

 **A minor illusion used to fool an opponent.**

 **Hand seals: Snake, Rat, Monkey**

 **Difficulty to detect increased by 1%**

 **Difficulty to dispel increased by 1%**

 **CP cost 25**

Hinata could not keep a smile off her face through standard training it would have taken her hours just to learn a D rank Jutsu most likely longer since this was her first experience with Genjutsu.

Deciding to test her new ability she spotted a bird roosting in a tree and flipped through the hand seals for the jutsu.

"Snake, Rat, Monkey **Genjutsu: Shinkiro** " she called out.

All of a sudden the bird in the tree seemed to perk its head up and quickly flew towards the ground and began to peck it before chirping in confusion. Hinata was pleased to see the Genjutsu had taken hold correctly making the bird think there was food on the ground.

However she did feel a bit bad for tricking the poor bird and reached into her inventory to pull out an apple which she cut up using a kunai. After throwing the food to the bird her conscious was alleviated.

 **Through a special action a new skill has been created**

 **Genjutsu mastery level: 1**

 **Decrease the chakra cost of Genjutsu by 1%**

 **Increase the difficulty to dispel your Genjutsu by 1%**

That was rather useful.

 **Through a special action a new skill has been created**

 **Hand Seals Level: 1**

 **Increase the speed of your hand seals by 1%**

 **Through a special action a new skill has been created**

 **Compassion Level: 1**

 **Your caring and compassionate nature to all creatures endears you to others**

 **Increased reputation gains with those friendly and above by 5%**

The last skill caused Hinata to sport a large blush but she couldn't deny the usefulness of the first two especially since as a Hyuga she was not that proficient with hand seals.

Looking over her skills menu she noticed that she still had two new skills.

 **Instant dungeon creation Level: 1**

 **Allows the user to create an instant dungeon Dungeons that can be created vary depending on the level of the user. Additional features available depend on the level of the skill.**

 **Instant dungeons can only be accessible once every 48 hours.**

 **Additional features** **currently available: 0**

 **Dungeons accessible: Training space, Rabbit dungeon.**

 **Instant dungeon escape Level: 1**

 **Allows the user to escape from an instant dungeon except during boss encounters.**

That actually sounded really interesting, since she had two days free before meeting her team on Sunday she decided to train today and use tomorrow to explore this new feature after all a rabbit dungeon sounded adorable.

For now however the plan of attack was to 'Grind' she thought the term was her knew Genjutsu and when she ran out of Chakra use those weights to work on her physical stats until her chakra recovered. As it stood it would take just under six hours to fully recover her Chakra after fully depleting it.

It was 7.30 currently at 12 she could take some time to get some lunch and then get back to training.

Well in terms of her Genjutsu she already had one unique use; like she did with the bird she could make an enemy believe an ally was injured on the ground or that they had dropped something important.

Of course without anyone to test this on it would be a lot harder to see if she was successful as animals could only take you so far.

Deciding to make her way back to the heart of the village Hinata pondered what other uses she could have for a minor illusion.

As she neared the market once again she had a new plan of action focusing on a man in the crowd Hinata went through hand seals. Suddenly the man seemed to turn sharply to his right before dismissing it. After a few minutes he turned to his right again before scratching his head and walking off.

She was right it seemed visuals were not the only thing this jutsu could do, it could also make people think they were hearing things which would be useful to mask your approach or retreat. By that logic it would stand to reason that the Genjutsu could influence the other senses as well to a limited degree.

Finally as she moved through the crowd she spotted Team 10 walking her way. Hinata walked through the crowd until she stood face to face with them.

"Good morning Shikamaru-san, choji-san, Ino-san and Asuma-sensei" she greeted politely.

"Oh Hi Hinata what are you doing out here all alone shouldn't you be with your team?" Ino asked.

"I-I j-just thought i would get some supplies before we started our training" she said timidly.

"Well we have a mission to do so see you around Hinata" Ino said cheerfully as they proceeded to move on.

As they passed Asuma shot her a knowing look and winked at her letting her know that she had been caught.

 **Genjutsu: Shinkiro has increased by 1**

 **Genjutsu: Shinkiro has increased by 1**

Hinata blushed fiercely at being caught but the test had proven successful, during that whole conversation she had not uttered a word but used the Genjutsu to make it look like she was talking. It was a method of combining the first two aspects of the jutsu that she figured could be used to communicate in the field without needing to talk.

With her three new applications of the jutsu all she needed now was more practice.

* * *

About an hour and a half later Hinata found herself back in the training field quite satisfied. She had gained 5 more levels with her new Genjutsu and 2 levels in hand seals and a further 1 in Genjutsu mastery.

Now it was time to train physically, after equipping both of the weights she saw that her maximum HP did in fact drop by 50 like the items said they would.

For now she decided that she would practice her taijutsu katas for an hour then do some interval training for an hour and finish up with some press ups and sit ups.

* * *

It was just after 12 when Hinata made her way to the dragon of the west to grab some lunch, as always she received an enthusiastic welcome from Iroh who served her up a nice hot cup of tea and a cinnamon bun.

Deciding to have a quick look at her delicious food to see if it too had any benefits she was pleasantly surprised.

 **Chamomile tea (uncommon quality)**

 **A rich and calming tea from Tetsu no kuni famed for its quality.**

 **Restores 10 CP and 10 HP**

 **Cinnamon Bun (common quality)**

 **The one true food of the gods let all ye pretenders quiver in fear of its cinnamony goodness.**

 **Restores 30 CP**

Hinata was beginning to like this game even more it clearly knew the one truth of the universe.

Hinata ordered 10 more cinnamon buns to go getting a questioning look from Iroh who said he valued her as a customer but did not want all those sweets going to her hips which caused Hinata to stutter helplessly as she fled the shop after paying for her order.

* * *

As Hinata got home that evening she decided to have a well earned bath to soak away her weariness. It still felt strange that she was not completely sore but the war water was welcome all the same.

All in all she had brought Genjutsu: Shinkiro up to level 15, she assumed that the rapid growth had to do with the relative ease of learning a D rank Jutsu and the passive boosts from Kurenai sensei. Genjutsu mastery was sitting at level 4 and hand seals at level 6.

Her Juken had rose to level 3 and now passively increased her dexterity and wisdom by 2%. However the true fruit of her training had been her physical boosts. While her dexterity was already at 25 and did not receive any bonuses the other certainly did.

All in all from her day of training she had increased all of her physical stats by 5 points each which when combined with her boosts from the equipment left her looking very healthy indeed.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 10 Exp to next level 216/1658**

 **HP: 300/300**

 **CP: 250/250**

 **Strength: 19**

 **Dexterity: 30 (0.60)**

 **Agility: 21 (0.42)**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 15**

 **Wisdom: 19 (0.19)**

 **Charisma: 3**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 12**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 840**

Hinata was much more confident in her skills now after her training session. She made sure to remember to un-equip the items though.

"Hopefully now I won't hold Kiba-kun and Shino-kun back now" she murmured to herself. Back at the academy she had always been one of the weaker students, honestly if it wasn't expected of her she was not sure if she would have even become a Shinobi.

She had often wondered what it would be like to run a cute little Inn with large onsen, it would be world renowned for its excellent service that the husband and wife team provided. The wife with her beauty and grace and the husband with his roguish charm and cute little whisker marks, And their kids that always brought a smile to the customers days with their adorable little faces.

Hinata could feel her face heating up and she was sure it was not because of the bath. Sadly it was just a little dream of hers and all dreams end when the dreamer awakens only to be left with the harsh world that is their reality.

Dismissing those depressing thoughts she instead decided to focus on what her next perk should be.

 **Available Perks**

 **Chakra Nature Water- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Wind- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Fire- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Earth- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Lightning- 1 point**

 **Black Widow- Increased damage against the opposite sex by 25%- 1 point**

 **Explorer- able to bring up a mini map and advanced HUD- 1 point**

 **Chakra battery- additional 10 CP per level- 1 point**

 **Vitality- additional 10 HP per level- 1 point**

 **Lady Killer- Increased damage against the same sex by 25%- 1 point**

 **Scavenger- Increase the likelihood of rarer drops - 1 point**

Looking at her options she was not too sure what that scavenger perk meant but she knew that she ran out of chakra far too quickly. With that in mind she purchased the chakra battery perk and was disappointed but not surprised to find out it did not work retroactively.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day she had more training to do as well as investigating these instant dungeons.

* * *

 **You have awakened HP and CP restored**

After getting ready Hinata made her way to the team 8 training ground, she considered getting more cinnamon buns but was too embarrassed after yesterday even if she knew Iroh was only joking.

Deciding it was now or never Hinata quickly scanned the area with her Byakugan then tentatively said "Instant dungeon creation"

All of a sudden a gleaming white door appeared in front of her. Hinata slowly circled the door and as she did she found that it appeared to be two dimensional unless she was directly facing it.

Steeling her resolve Hinata placed a hand on the doors handle and tugged it open. Once the door was open Hinata peered inside but all she could see was a bright white light. Tentatively she placed one foot over the boundary and then all of a sudden she felt a strong tugging sensation. Hinata desperately attempted to move away from the door but the pulling sensation was too much and she ended up toppling through the bright archway.

* * *

Hinata landed with a thump on the ground, still slightly disorientated. The first thing she noticed was a sweet smell that wafted through the area, the aroma seemed to dance on the summer breeze and made her feel more relaxed.

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up to see a bright blue sky, with the sun gently beating down on her. Sitting up she realised where the sweet smell was coming from as she appeared to have landed in a large flower field.

All around her were plants of varying colours, blues, yellows, oranges and pinks all scattered around her swaying softly in the breeze.

To the east there seemed to be a large mountain range with snow capped peaks and to the west was a large forest. To the north she could see the ocean and to the south the flower field seemed to continue onwards.

Just from the geography of the place alone Hinata knew she was no longer in Konoha. Getting herself up and dusting herself off she decided to move towards the ocean to see if she could spot any landmarks. As she attempted to do this after around 300 meters she seemed to hit an invisible wall.

 **Area not within the scope of the instant dungeon.**

 **Would you like to view the dungeon tutorial?**

 **Y/N**

Taking the obvious answer Hinata hit yes.

 **Instant dungeons are created using the reality warping properties of the gamer ability. Instant dungeons serve as a way for the user to train and develop at a much faster rate.**

 **Instant Dungeons are dangerous as all creatures and items found within are made real due to the nature of the gamer ability.**

 **Instant dungeons may be left at any time except during a boss encounter. A Boss is the leader of the enemy forces within an instant dungeon and is normally the most powerful enemy within. Bosses tend to drop the best loot and always drop a unique drop the first time they are defeated.**

 **Aside from bosses there is also a chance to encounter a 'rare spawn' anytime an instant dungeon is entered. These enemies can sometimes be more powerful than area Bosses and can sometimes be much weaker, they always drop extremely rare or powerful items. Some skills and perks can be obtained to increase the likelihood of these enemies appearing.**

 **As with game play outside the dungeon your HP reaching zero means death.**

The line at the end was a sobering thought, while she knew death was always a possibility as a Shinobi to have it spelled out so clearly was disconcerting.

Going back to her status screen Hinata changed her Hyuga clan heir title to her Genin Title which granted her +50 HP and CP.

Deciding she was as ready as she would ever be she made her way back through the flower field finding it hard to keep alert in such a peaceful place.

As she travelled a bit further she came upon a little white rabbit grazing on the flowers. It had a silky smooth coat of fur and looked completely adorable as it struggled to gnaw through some of the petals on the flowers.

Hinata approached it slowly and knelt down a few meters away.

"Here little bunny I won't hurt you" she cooed softly as to not frighten the little rabbit.

The rabbit turned its head toward Hinata swiftly and its eyes widened as it started to let out a high pitched moaning sound.

"it's okay there's no need to be afraid" Hinata said.

As she was trying to comfort the rabbit it started to hop away creating some distance between them as its cries grew louder.

Hinata decided to observe the bunny to see if she could see what was wrong.

 **White Rabbit Scout Level: 5**

 **HP: 50**

 **CP: 10**

 **Strength: 2**

 **Dexterity: 10**

 **Agility: 10**

 **Vitality: 5**

 **Intelligence: 1**

 **Wisdom: 5**

 **Charisma: 3**

 **Status**

 **Call for Family: When it sees an enemy it calls for help from its stronger Kin until it is defeated.**

 **Trickery: Can steal items from an unaware opponent.**

 **Description**

 **The white rabbit may seem harmless but its docile appearance lulls its foes into a false sense of security. While personally it is weak it is the premiere scout of the rabbit dungeon.**

 **EXP Earned: 30**

 **Drops: 50 RYO, Soft Fur**

Hinata's eyes widened at the information displayed, she had foolishly believed that the little bunny was harmless despite the fact that this place was called the rabbit dungeon. She felt a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach as she thought back to the times she had been called useless by the members of her clan and couldn't help but feel they might be right.

Hinata was broken out of her self-deprecation by two medium sized mounds of earth popping up in front of her. From the earth she could see two heads pop up adorned with long grey ears. From the ground two grey rabbits sprang up from the dirt, each roughly Hinata's height.

The two rabbits had aged faces and raggedy grey fur; their ears seemed to droop slightly at the sides. They were both wearing a navy blue waistcoat and grey shorts held up by black suspenders.

 **March Hare Level: 10**

 **HP: 200**

 **CP: 40**

 **Strength: 6**

 **Dexterity: 20**

 **Agility: 20**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 4**

 **Wisdom: 4**

 **Charisma: 1**

 **Status**

 **Lucky Rabbits Foot: 25% chance to reduce damage taken by half.**

 **Description**

 **The March Hare is a veteran of the rabbit dungeon, he does not enjoy combat and would much rather sit back with a cup of tea. Even though it does not enjoy combat its powerful legs are not to be trifled with.**

 **EXP Earned: 125**

 **Drops: 150 RYO, Soft Fur**

The first thing that Hinata noticed about the March Hare's is that their names were in Yellow as opposed to white like the other rabbit. She remembered that the colour could donate the difficulty of missions but the same must also apply to enemies as well.

Before she could do much else the two Hares sprung up from their position using their powerful legs, one going right the other going left in an attempt to flank her.

Hinata swerved her right leg back and raised her hands up in front of her in a standard Juken stance while activating her Byakugan.

Still facing forward Hinata raised her right hand up and her left hand down simultaneously blocking two blows from the Hares one high and one low.

"I can see you your both well within my sight" she said calmly as she threw her arms up in order to push the two rabbits away.

Seeing an opening she brought her leg round and pivoted allowing her body weight and momentum to assist her in the turn. As she turned she briefly activated Chakra flow in order to increase the moves potency and channelled an excess amount of chakra to her hands illuminating them in a vibrant blue hugh. Feeling the power flowing through her she brought both of them to bear and slammed them into one of the Hares chest sending it flying backwards after the force of the blow.

 **Through a special action a new skill has been created**

 **Juken- Dengen Sutoraiku Level: 1 (Gentle fist: Power strike)**

 **By combining and focusing the effects of chakra flow to a single point in combination with Juken you can land a powerful blow that does heavy internal damage.**

 **Increase attack damage by 50%**

 **Cost 15 CP**

The Hare continued to tumble over and over until it came to a stop in a heap on the ground. Seeing its companion on the floor the other March Hare quickly jumped back in order to create some space between the two.

 **March Hare Level: 10**

 **HP: 140/200**

 **CP: 40**

 **Strength: 6**

 **Dexterity: 20**

 **Agility: 20**

 **Vitality: 10**

 **Intelligence: 4**

 **Wisdom: 4**

 **Charisma: 1**

Using this opportunity Hinata pulled our several Kunai from her inventory and tossed them at the downed Hare causing it to let out a cry of pain. As she was about to go forward to land the killing blow she saw the other Hare approach her quickly from behind with a flying kick to the back of her head.

Had she come into the dungeon before training with the weights she would have been too slow to dodge. Had she not unlocked the Byakugan she would have been unaware of the need to dodge. For the first time in her Life Hinata was beginning to believe she had what it took to do this. When the hare was a hairs breadth away from her she used her natural flexibility to swerve under the blow as the stunned hare began to sail over her head.

"This is the results of my training **Juken- Dengen Sutoraiku!** " Hinata Yelled as she struck the other Hare that was sailing above her launching it up into the sky.

Using this opportunity she once more activated Chakra flow and sped over to the downed Hare Delivering several quick palm strikes to its chest causing it to be pummelled into the earth creating spider web cracks in the ground until it melted out of existence.

With her Byakugan active she could track the decent of the other Hare and from where she stood performed a back flip into the air placing herself above the descending creature.

" **Juken- Dengen Sutoraiku!** " She shouted once more as she reached the apex of her arc slamming both palms downwards into the defenceless Hare sending it plummeting even more quickly towards the ground where it hit sending up a large cloud of dust and debris.

 **Critical Hit**

Hinata landed her Byakugan still blazing which allowed her to see that that blow had finished off the other march Hare.

Breathing a sigh of relief Hinata dropped out of her combat stance as she surveyed the area when an ear piercing shrill filled the area.

Looking around Hinata saw the White Rabbit Scout making an absolute uproar, screeching far louder than it did earlier. Realisation suddenly hit her as she remembered that she needed to take that thing out or enemies would keep coming.

Quickly Hinata dashed over to the rabbit and was about to strike when the ground erupted all around her.

Debris filled the air from where the ground erupted but Hinata was able to see through it to see she was surrounded by six March Hares.

While the debris was still in the air one of them lunged forward with a powerful kick that Hinata was just able to avoid by ducking underneath it and using that gap to roll out of the circle of rabbits towards the Scout which she silenced with a swift strike to the head.

As she did this the Debris seemed to clear to reveal the six Hares facing her with stern expressions on their faces.

Hinata once more got into her stance and slowly backed away to create more distance between them.

The Hares on the other hand seemed to be getting into a formation with three at the front and three behind in reserve.

All of a sudden the three at the front darted forward intent on mowing her down. Hinata was forced to dodge and block a flurry of kicks from the three Hares. Whereas before she was able to deal with them one on one together they proved too quick and too numerous and Hinata took a heavy kick to the chest that sent her flying back before she erupted in a poof of smoke a log taking her place.

The Hares looked confused when their quarry changed places with a log a fact that Hinata took notice of.

"It appears they are unused to Ninjutsu, in that case.." Hinata thought as she went through some hand seals.

" **Bunshin no jutsu!** " Hinata declared as two copies of herself appeared one on either side of her.

All three Hinata's then charged at the March Hares and as predicted two of the Hares attempted to attack the clones repeatedly and could not understand why their attacks failed to work.

"Thank god for their low intelligence" Hinata whispered as she rounded on the remaining Hare quickly striking all of its Tenketsu leaving it paralyzed on the ground before swiftly doing the same to the other two also incapacitating them.

After those three were incapacitated she turned her attention to the remaining March Hare's who had not moved from their spot and seemed to have been watching the fight intently.

Once More Hinata created two Bunshin's and charged at the Hare's only this time all three Hares made a beeline for the Middle Hinata and lashed out with their kicks.

 **-150 HP**

Hinata let out a yelp of pain as she was sent flying by the kick as she tumbled across the ground. The pain in her chest was Severe it felt like she had been hit by one of Kiba's **Tsuga's**.

Slowly but surely she managed to stand back up, for the first ime in this fight a sliver of fear took hold of her but she squashed it down.

Hinata took a deep breath and once more created some Bunshin, this time she created eight and then ran towards the Hares this time weaving all her clones together then separating so it would be impossible to tell who the real one was without watching carefully.

Luckily for Her the Hares limited planning ability was not up to par which allowed her to fatally stab one in the back of the neck with a kunai in the confusion.

Now there was only two remaining once more Hinata hid herself in the midst of her clones and lashed out stealthily assassinating one more Hare until there was only one remaining.

At this point Hinata felt she could dismiss her clones and engage the last Hare. The last one now looked nervous and whether through bravery or stupidity charged Hinata directly lashing out with sloppy kicks that she was able to easily avoid.

Slowly but surely Hinata was able to whittle its health down with precise strikes before it eventually collapsed on the ground and melted from existence.

After that was dealt with she also finished off the paralyzed Hares from earlier.

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief when the fight was over and slumped to the ground.

 **Juken has increased by 1**

 **Juken has increased by 1**

 **Byakugan has increased by 1**

 **Byakugan has increased by 1**

 **Byakugan has increased by 1**

 **Juken- Dengen Sutoraiku has increased by 1**

 **Juken- Dengen Sutoraiku has increased by 1**

Hinata decided it would be a good idea to see how injured she was before proceeding onwards.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Genin (HP and CP +50)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 10 Exp to next level 1246/1658**

 **HP: 200/350***

 **CP: 75/300***

 **Strength: 19**

 **Dexterity: 30 (0.90)**

 **Agility: 21 (0.63)**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 15**

 **Wisdom: 19 (0.19)**

 **Charisma: 3**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 12**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 840**

All in all considering how outnumbered Hinata though she acquitted herself quite well in that encounter.

Hinata took a moment to eat six of her nine apples from her inventory in order to get herself back to full health.

As she looked around she happened to notice small piles lying on the ground where her defeated foes had been. Getting up from the ground she went to have a look at them and to her surprise found mounds of cash.

Tentatively she picked one of them up from the ground and flicked through them, she reactivated her Byakugan and confirmed that they were not counterfeit.

When she learnt that her ability could affect reality she never imagined this, though when she thought about it she relented that this was one of the least weird features and perhaps she should just roll with it.

All in all she found nine bundles of soft fur that when she observed them stated that they were crafting items, she did not know what to do with them, perhaps sell them but for now she put them in her inventory. She also found 1250 Ryo which was more money than she currently had before this point.

All in all it was a very nice hoard. If she could keep coming back to this place then she would be able to make a nice extra income.

As she was thinking this a new notification popped up.

 **A Boss has entered the area.**

Off in the distance Hinata could hear a rhythmic thudding noise, which seemed to gradually be getting closer.

Eventually Hinata spotted something cresting over a hill further down the flower field. At first all she could see was two long brown floppy ears that seemed to bounce up and down. As the creature drew close more of it came into view until it was standing at the top of the hill hopping up and down.

This rabbit was far larger than the other enemies in the dungeon as it looked to stand at around 6ft. The creature had long brown ears pith pink tips that splayed to either side of its head. On its head were three small horns displayed in a triangular formation which pointed towards its ruby red eyes.

The creature had a very long and thin body with two long arms that were about two thirds of its body's height and two long powerful legs clothed in purple pants.

Despite its odd proportions the creature stood straight rather than hunched as it eyed Hinata wearily.

 **Rabbit Deva Level: 18**

 **HP: 400**

 **CP: 150**

 **Strength: 17**

 **Dexterity: 32**

 **Agility: 32**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 15**

 **Wisdom: 5**

 **Charisma: 20**

 **Status**

 **Bunny Blade Mastery: reduces the CP cost of Bunny Blades by half.**

 **Storm Leg Mastery: reduces the CP cost of Storm Leg by half.**

 **Description**

 **The Rabbit Deva is the guardian of the Rabbit Dungeon. It treats its kin with profound tenderness but will stop at nothing to eliminate any threats that cross its path. Its signature attacks are the Bunny Blades and Storm Leg.**

 **EXP Earned: 800**

 **Drops: ?**

Hinata could feel the rabbit Deva's eyes boring into her, unlike its brethren this one's ruby red eyes held a spark of intelligence; it would be unlikely to fall for any of her previous tricks. Its Name was also in Yellow which meant that it would prove to be a challenge.

Suddenly the Rabbit Deva sunk into a crouch, the powerful muscles in its legs coiling like a spring. Without warning it released all of that stored energy and exploded from the ground like a powerful fire release jutsu.

 **-50 HP**

It was only instinct that saved her from the brunt of her foes attack as the creature rocketed past her and landed a glancing blow to her side.

" **Byakugan!** " Hinata said with ragged breaths as she tried to recover from the blow.

As she examined the creature she could see the telltale signs of Chakra leaving its limbs and gathered that it had been using chakra flow. The creature seemed to be employing the same technique that she had recently discovered, rather than wasting chakra to keep chakra flow constantly active it was best to use it in short bursts.

The rabbit Deva cocked its head to the side as it observed her before it slowly began to circle her looking for an opening.

Hinata furrowed her brows as she considered how to engage her opponent; she knew that in terms of physical ability they were pretty even the Deva being slightly faster. The both seemed to specialise in Taijutsu, the question was is her Juken sufficient to pull off a win.

Deciding to test the waters Hinata channelled Chakra to her legs for a burst of speed and dashed forward to engage the enemy.

Hinata met her target head on and sent a palm strike towards the Rabbit Deva's chest. The Deva nimbly moved to the side to dodge the blow but Hinata had anticipated this and with another quick application of Chakra managed to pivot and redirect the blow to strike the Deva in the chest sending it skidding back a few feet.

Not seeming overly injured the Rabbit Deva charged forward once again letting lose a flurry of punches. Thanks to her Byakugan Hinata could see her opponent's muscles contracting and relaxing indicating its next move allowing her some ability to predict the path of the blows.

Seeing that she would not be able to endure the flurry of blows Hinata leapt back to create some distance, however this proved to be a costly mistake as the rabbit lunged forward with one of its flexible legs to nail her with a strong blow to the sternum.

 **-30 HP**

The Blow sent Hinata flying back but she used the Hits momentum to right herself and re-enter her battle stance.

Once more the rabbit Deva cocked its head to the side observing her, silently judging her worth.

Deciding to regain the momentumH

Hinata entered the fray once more sending strike after strike at her opponent. The Rabbit Deva evaded most of the blows but was forced to bat a few away with its arms.

Once more the Deva counterattacked with a flurry of blows However this time Hinata weathered the storm with her own attacks.

 **-10 HP**

The Devas arms whipped out assaulting her with a violent tide of blows, Hinata was able to knock most of them out of the way with her own attacks.

 **-20 HP**

Gradually the blows became faster as the telltale signs of Chakra could be seen creeping up the deva's chakra system to its arms.

 **-30 HP**

Finally The Deva managed to breach her defences landing a powerful punch to her stomach which caused her to buckle over and grab the Deva's own arm for support in order to keep herself from falling.

 **-40 HP**

Having nearly incapacitated her The Deva began to raise its arms in order to launch a finishing blow when suddenly it stopped and its arms fell limply to its side.

Lifting her head to look the Deva in the eyes Hinata could see worry begin to take hold on its face.

"It's over; you will no longer have the use of your arms, The Juken is a technique specifically designed to close off an opponent's tenketsu, I'm sorry but I can't fall here **Juken- Dengen Sutoraiku!** "

Surging back into life Hinata struck the Rabit Deva straight in the chest and followed up with an impressive combo striking the Liver, Lungs and head with chakra enhanced strikes.

 **Critical Hit**

The flurry of blows blew the Rabbit Deva away causing it to land on its back.

Hinata watched in apprehension to see if the powerful creature would get back up, time passé for what felt like an eternity and just as Hinata felt secure in her victory the Rabbit Deva lifted both legs into the air and swung them downwards the force of which allowing it to right itself.

Suddenly Hinata could see a large mass of Chakra begin to well up in its arms forcibly flowing to the blocked off tenketsu. A blue aura of Chakra would have been visible even to those without a Doujutsu as the Tenketsu were forced open.

 **Rabbit Deva Level: 18**

 **HP: 75/400**

 **CP: 60/150**

 **Strength: 17**

 **Dexterity: 32**

 **Agility: 32**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 15**

 **Wisdom: 5**

 **Charisma: 20**

 **Status**

 **Bunny Blade Mastery: reduces the CP cost of Bunny Blades by half.**

 **Storm Leg Mastery: reduces the CP cost of Storm Leg by half.**

 **Description**

 **The Rabbit Deva is the guardian of the Rabbit Dungeon. It treats its kin with profound tenderness but will stop at nothing to eliminate any threats that cross its path. Its signature attacks are the Bunny Blades and Storm Leg.**

 **EXP Earned: 800**

 **Drops: ?**

That last attack had taken off most of its health and it had sacrificed over half of its chakra to reopen its Tenketsu.

What was strange was even after its Tenketsu were opened it continued to channel Chakra to its arms until the chakra solidified into two chakra blades that coated the arms.

Suddenly the Rabbit Deva began to spin on the spot gradually picking up speed until it transformed into a cyclone of whirling death.

The rabbit Deva then rocketed from its spot as it whirled towards Hinata tearing up the ground in its wake.

She was barely able to dodge the initial salvo using Chakra Flow as the deva sped past her through the flower field all the way to the nearby tree line.

It sounded like someone took a rusty katana to the trees as the Deva emerged from the foliage on another collision course with her.

Hinata took out several Kunai and chucked them at the Rabbit Deva in order to stop or at least slow its advance only for her projectiles to bounce helplessly off.

In her shock the Rabbit Barreled into her once more sending her to the ground.

 **-45 HP**

Having hit its target the Rabbit Deva dropped out from its spin and swung its powerful leg in Hinata's direction prone on the floor. From its leg came an arc of energy that bounced across the ground at incredible speed until it collided with Hinata causing a large explosion.

 **-90 HP**

The force of the explosion sent Hinata bouncing along the ground until she came to stop lying on her side facing the Rabbit Deva.

Hinata felt her Byakugan deactivate as she was lacking the strength to keep it active, but she still noticed a growing pool of red begin to form beneath her; seeping out of her torn hooded top.

Seeing its opponent beaten and broken on the floor the Rabbit Deva relaxed its posture and once more cocked its head to the side in silent judgement.

From her position on the ground Hinata clenched her fists and felt her eyes begin to mist up. Was this her fate, like Neji always suggested to die alone and afraid unable to even fend for herself?

Just earlier she felt so strong and so powerful for the first time in her life as she triumphed over the March Hares declaring that her Training bore fruit. How proud she felt to triumph over an opponent that had superior numbers to her, just for a moment she felt she could shed her title as Hinata the failure; what a foolish thought.

Even her opponent was looking down on her with Pity, looking at her with the same eyes she had seen from the clan elders for her entire life.

" _You are worthless"_

" _What Kind of heiress can't even unlock her own clan's doujutsu, it would be far better for the clan if she would just disappear"_

" _Hanabi-sama well done, be sure to remain diligent unlike your disappointment of a sister"_

She kept seeing the faces of the different elders in place of the Rabbit Deva even as it approached her to deal the finishing blow.

Normally she would have felt ashamed by her failure, normally she would have slunk out of view content to exist in the background, but now... now all she felt was a burning anger.

Anger at herself for being weak, anger at the elders for always judging her, anger at fate her perceived destiny.

No she would not believe in destiny, she couldn't. She had finally achieved a means to make herself stronger, to finally gain some respect, she would not let her story end here.

The Rabbit Deva was now in front of her looking upon her with pity as it raised its chakra covered arm to strike.

"I won't lose, I swear I will earn the respect of my clan and change it for the better and I never go back on my word because that is my nindo, my ninja way!"

 **Crunch**

Suddenly and violently the Rabbit Deva struck burying its arm into Hinata's chest as blood began to seep round the wound.

The Rabbit Deva looked on in a detached manner as it watched the light fade from her eyes until she lay still on the ground.

 **Slash**

Quickly and silently The Rabit Devas neck was opened up from end to end as the body of Hyuga Hinata faded from view in front of it.

"I used to always give up... I used to always cry... I have made many mistakes over the course of my life but no more. From now on I will live a life I can be proud of. These eyes of mine show me many things, but one thing they will always show me is the truth... The same cannot be said for you **Genjutsu: Shinkiro** (Illusion technique: Mirage) it's my victory" Hinata declared as the Rabbit Deva's body shattered and dissolved.

 **You have gained a level**

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Genin (HP and CP +50)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 11 Exp to next level 338/1990**

 **HP: 35/350***

 **CP: 0/320***

 **Strength: 19**

 **Dexterity: 32 (0.96)**

 **Agility: 21 (0.63)**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 16**

 **Wisdom: 20 (0.20)**

 **Charisma: 3**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 18**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 2090**

 **Authors Notes**

Hi guys I hope you enjoyed this chapter of almost 10k it was a bit of a marathon to write. Originally it was supposed to have even more content but this seemed like the best place to stop lest it balloon again so Boss loot next chapter. For those of you waiting for Hinata to do something badass I hope this sufficed.

I have to say I am pleased and thankful at the overwhelmingly positive response this story has gotten, already we are at 500 follows so thank you very much and let's see if we can hit 400 faves and 200 reviews from this chapter.

I have been extremely busy job hunting lately which was why this chapter has been released later than scheduled as those of you who have been watching my profile page for updates will know. As such I did not have a huge amount of time to edit this beast so if you see any mistakes please PM me.

A couple of quick things to note as of this chapter I am closing the poll, you should now be able to see the results on my profile but I will also post them here.

Water: 60 votes

Lightning: 45 Votes

Wind: 21 Votes

Earth: 13 Votes

Fire: 7 Votes

So there we have it Hinata's primary affinity will be water. Originally I planned to put up a second poll with the top 3 answers but the results seem quite clear. Though it is surprising as for a long time Lightning had a commanding lead.

The next thing to talk about is how CP reductions work. The way I am calculating it is as follows General deductions then specific. So Leaf sticking that applies to all CP use will take effect before Genjutsu mastery.

Leaf sticking reduces the cost by 8% and Genjutsu master by 3%, this does not = 11% reduction e.g

Genjutsu: Shinkiro costs 25 CP 11% = 2.75 reduction costing 22.25 rounded down to 22 this is incorrect.

It would be 8% of 25 = 2 so 23 then 3% of 23 = 0.69 which would make22.31 in this case both round down to 22 cp to use but the way you work it out will matter more later on. Just thought I would explain this now in case people were interested.

Finally I have a competition to announce as you may have noticed in the chapter I mentioned rare spawns. Rare spawns are creatures that as the name suggest are rare and drop cool loot. Each dungeon can have a rare spawn so I thought we could have some audience participation so I am giving you guys an opportunity if you want to submit a rare spawn for Hinata to face.

The place to Submit your entries will be on my forum which the link to can be found on my profile page. This is by no means mandatory and won't really affect the story but it will be a cool opportunity for you guys to flex your creative muscles.

The rules for the competition will be on the Forum if you would like to take part, so for the first round come up with a creature for the Rabbit Dungeon.

Thanks again for all the support and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, BTW internet cookie for anyone who can tell me where I got the design for the dungeon boss from.


	7. Chapter 7

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

 **New chapter finally, also we have had some great responses for the rare spawn competition you can check them out here** myforums/BraveVesperia/5709443/. **There is also a link on my profile.**

It had been about an hour, for that time Hinata lay unmoving on the ground as her body slowly knit itself back together. She ate her remaining apples and that had helped to mend some of her injuries but for now she waited.

She had been replaying the fight over and over inside her head analyzing her foe, her conclusion was that the Rabbit Deva had been strong. No strong did not truly encapsulate it, Kiba and Shino were strong but the Deva had been fierce.

It moved with swiftness and power that Hinata had only seen watching a few of her clan members spar. It moved with sureness, knowing that each action it took would have the desired outcome. In terms of stats it was not that much stronger than herself but she had still been easily overwhelmed.

The rabbit Deva seemed to be able to respond with more explosive strength than her as a result of it being more adept at chakra flow. However its most devastating trait had been its two signature techniques. Even when she had reclaimed the flow of the battle those two techniques were enough to turn the tide against her.

Hinata let out a deep breath as she watched the clouds drift by, but despite all of that she had won.

"Because that's my nindo, my ninja way" she said softly as she thought back to her declaration.

Hinata felt a small feeling well up in her stomach as her cheeks flushed red, pride. For the first time she could remember she felt pride in her abilities. It may not have been a clean win but a win was a win.

As she turned her head to the side she spotted the small pile that had spawned where the boss' defeated corpse had once been. Felling steadier on her feet now that she had rested Hinata walked over to inspect her winnings.

Using observe she identified what appeared to be a scroll and an equipable item.

 **Rankyaku: Usaginoashi (Storm Leg: Rabbits foot)**

 **Rank: C**

 **Bounces: 3**

 **Hand seals: None**

 **CP Cost: 50**

 **Rankyaku: Usaginoashi is one of the signature techniques of the Rabbit Deva. The user kicks and unleashes a powerful blade of compressed Chakra that can slice objects and greatly damage a human body. This technique as a variation of the standard Rankyaku bounces across any surface it comes into contact with before reaching its target. The more proficient the user is with the technique the further it can travel and the more bounces it can do.**

Well Hinata could certainly attest to that, the technique had been rather painful and difficult to keep track of as it bounced around.

The next and final item in the pile appeared to be clothing of some sort. It appeared to be a white hooded jacket with two black buttons on the front. The jacket had a white hood but what was strange was the two pieces of cloth that extended from either side of the hood making them look like floppy rabbits ears. The ears themselves had two blue stripes that ran parallel on the outside of the ears.

 **Survival Hoodie (Epic quality)**

 **Increases all stats apart from charisma by 10.**

 **Increases HP and CP regeneration rate by an addition 5 per 10 minutes.**

 **Forged through trials and fire, this garment was once worn by one who wished to protect his world from the stars themselves. Oh son of man clad in both light and darkness can you pass the trial ahead as your predecessor once did?**

 **Let's Survive!**

Hinata continued to stare at the hoodie in front of her when she stared at it she felt a deep sadness but also determination. The determination to stand against the odds and rally people to your banner, the strength to take on the entire world.

Placing the hoodie in her inventory she brought up her equipment screen and equipped the item. Her fears of it being too big were unfounded as it seemed to slim to the contours of her body and fit rather nicely.

Just from wearing the clothing she felt more powerful. A small smile graced her face as she slipped the hood up over her head letting the ears fall back behind her.

Returning her attention to the scroll she decided there was no time like the present and decided to learn the technique if she could.

 **Would you like to learn Rankyaku: Usaginoashi**

 **Y/N**

Clicking yes she was delighted to see the scroll make no protests as it broke down into small motes of light and get absorbed into her.

Like before the knowledge of the technique rushed into her head and she instinctively knew she could perform it. Even though she was somewhat recovered Hinata decided to leave experimentation for another day.

Hinata thought to herself that it might be time to pick up her hobby of making healing salves again, her aching body stood testament to the fact that more healing was in order. Still at least with her new change of clothes she would not walk back into the clan compound looking like death.

On the spur of the moment Hinata decided to take some cuttings and seeds from the flowers in the dungeon as many were plants she did not recognize and did not look indigenous to Konoha.

With nothing further to do Hinata decided to leave.

"ID escape" Hinata said while placing her hand outwards.

Once more a door sprang into existence much like the one that brought her here. Having had enough excitement for one day Hinata decided to leave.

* * *

Hinata stepped through the doorway with a jolt as she once more found herself back in the training field. The position of the sun let her know that it was around midday.

With tentative steps Hinata made her way back to the Hyuga compound passing the guards at the entrance who gave her slightly questioning looks. At this moment in time she wanted nothing more than a hot bath and a delicious Cinnamon bun, unfortunately that small pleasure looked like it was about to be denied to her as she spotted the figure walking towards her.

"Hinata-sama where have you been I have been looking all over for you?" came the strict and commanding voice of the woman in front of her.

Approaching the young heiress was an elderly Hyuga who Hinata knew to be in her 70's but did not look a day over 50. Her immaculate black hair was done up into a tight bun and she was wearing a lose fitting blue kimono with a black sash. Her regal features displayed minute traces of irritation that on any other clan member Hinata would have thought aimed at her due to their inherent dislike of her weakness. However on the woman in front of her it was merely due to her irritation from being kept waiting.

Hyuga Sayako was many things, overbearing, strict and a touch vindictive but no one could accuse her of not being fair. She was one of the few people in the clan that did not berate Hinata for no reason and if she had cause to it was always because Hinata had done something wrong.

"Good afternoon Sayako-san" Hinata said with a small bow, low enough to show respect but not low enough to display weakness.

Hinata noticed Sayako watching her with an appraising eye before nodding in what seemed to be satisfaction.

"Good afternoon Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama has requested that we once more resume your lessons now that graduation is over and you have had time to adapt to your new team" Sayako said.

Hinata inwardly withheld a grimace at that, her lessons with Sayako always made her nervous. She always felt she never lived up to the elder Hyuga's standards.

"Hiashi-sama has decided that you have been too lax as of late and that we must continue your instructions for when you will eventually lead the clan" Sayako said.

For years Hinata had been drilled with information on clan politics and other nuances fro how to run the clan, in recent months before they postponed the lessons she had been taught the beginnings of finance, all useful skills for a clan head.

Hinata was quickly ushered away by the older woman into one of the study rooms where various books and ledgers were laid out in waiting on the table.

Getting comfortable behind one of the desks Sayako spoke "Now Hinata-sama what can you remember from our last lesson together"

Casting her mind back Hinata remembered that they had been discussing trade within Konoha.

"L-last lesson we discussed t-trade relations within Konoha and the businesses owned by the major clans" Hinata spoke.

Hinata noticed Sayako narrow her eyes slightly and could not help but gulp "Hinata-sama, remind me of the first rule of our lessons together" she said.

Realising her mistake Hinata sat straighter and made eye contact with Sayako attempting to display an image of confidence "my responses should be clear and concise, stuttering is a sign of weakness that cannot be permitted from the clan heir" Hinata said while facing the woman.

Sayako let an appraising eye wander over the young girl a small twitch of a smile cresting the edge of her mouth.

"Better, not long ago you would have refused to make eye contact, it seems you may be salvageable after all" she said.

Hinata felt a small flutter of warmth in her chest at the praise.

"But yes you are correct, trade in Konoha is a very fluid thing but certain aspects are predictable. The Akamichi own a large portion of the restaurant trade in the village. The Nara supply many of the medicinal ingredients for the hospital and the Yamanaka own most of the florists and provide the bulk of the raw ingredients for poisons used by various Konoha Shinobi." Sayako explained.

"These established strangle holds have left the market rather stagnant, not much new blood has come into Konoha in recent years which means there have been few opportunities to exploit in recent years save one, can you tell me what that was Hinata-sama?" Sayako continued.

Nodding her head Hinata answered "The Uchiha clan massacre" Sayako inclined her head beckoning Hinata to continue.

"The Uchiha clan ran the military police but also had a large stake in the manufacturing of various Shinobi apparel such as boots and vests. Their destruction left a gap in the market that my father exploited by buying up the various businesses that lacked direction or folded from financial stress. This complemented our own businesses well as we are well known for producing the finest Kimono's and formal wear in Konoha" Hinata explained.

"Very good Hinata-sama it seems my lessons were not in vain after all" Sayako praised.

 **Through diligence in remembering your previous lessons intelligence has increased by 1**

"However this brings us to the point of today's lesson. In the ledgers in front of you is the total spending for the clan in the last fiscal year, I want you to look through these to see which investments have paid dividends and what other spending the clan typically focuses on. In the future it will be your responsibility to guide and monitor future investments so a sound financial education is paramount" Sayako explained.

"Yes sayako-san" Hinata said.

"Good I will leave you to your reading then" Sayako commented as she made her way to the door only to stop as she heard a low rumbling coming from behind her.

Hinata's face sported a bright red blush as she inwardly cursed her stomach for its betrayal. She caught sight of Sayako leaving the room shaking her head in disappointment.

Trying not to let that bother her Hinata immersed herself in the ledgers. One of the first things she noticed after she glanced over them quickly was the Shinobi apparel seemed to produce a very steady income with no real dips or rises. This made sense as there was always the need for equipment and short of another war there would be no reason to see any real surges in the market.

The formal wear on the other hand saw various spikes through the year most noticeably during October for the festival that honored the Yondime Hokage. That festival always brought up bittersweet memories for Hinata.

It was during that festival when she was 5 that she first met Naruto, she had been accosted by a group of bullies when suddenly in charged a little blond storm to knock the bullies away. Naruto may have gotten beaten up but to Hinata it was the bravest thing she had ever seen. That year had been a hard year all round, her mother had just died and her father seemed to withdraw into himself.

Her father used to be so kind and full of joy but that all changed after her mother passed. Naruto saving her had been the first time someone had stood up for her in months. Even when he got knocked down he kept getting right back up.

That day something changed in her childish mind, if that boy could do it she could too right?

Since that day she had always been on the lookout for him, at first it was just to give him the scarf she knit him to replace the one that got destroyed when he saved her. But over time she noticed things, little things.

How he lived alone, the looks the villagers gave him, the muttered curses under their breaths 'Demon' they called him.

She could never comprehend that, that kind boy that saved her how could someone like him be a demon.

She tried to work up the courage to speak to him she really did, but any time she would get close she could feel the heat rising to her face and her mind become woozy. After all these years the scarf she knitted for him still sat in a little wooden box in her room.

That was one of her biggest regrets that even though she saw how lonely he was she still could not pluck up the courage to face him.

Over the years she had done little things, leaving some groceries on his doorstep, leaving a wrapped present for him on his birthday every year. During the academy she knew that he would search for the person that left him the gifts, but she didn't do it for thanks just to see him smile. Not the wide smile with his eyes closed, she hated that smile but his real smile; she would do anything for that smile.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a branch member opened the door to place a hot cup of tea and a cinnamon bun down in front of her. Hinata flashed him a warm smile as thanks as he left the room. Hinata knew it was Sayako that sent him but if she were ever to ask the older lady would always deny it.

The thought of her teacher brought her mind back to the task at hand. As she browsed through the ledger she noticed an item that caught her interest. It was a utility bill on a building the clan owned, that in itself was not unusual as the clan owned lots of property in the village. What was unusual was the location of said building; it was a location Hinata was very familiar with.

The building itself was on the far side of the village just before the red light district. Hinata had visited it many times whilst sta-observing the object of her attention. This building was the apartment block Naruto lived in.

Naruto had often said that his apartment was paid for by the Konoha orphans fund, at the time she dismissed this but now that she thought about it she had never heard of such a scheme. For what reason was the Hyuga clan paying for the bills on Naruto's home?

 **NEW QUEST ALERT**

 **A HOME FOR THE HOMELESS**

 **OBJECTIVE: discover why the Hyuga clan is paying the cost of Naruto's living.**

 **REWARD: 300 EXP**

 **Y/N**

Well the answer to this question was obvious Hinata thought as she pressed yes. Hinata was mulling over how to solve this issue while eating her food when Sayako came back evidently feeling she had had enough time to review the material.

"So then Hinata-sama what is your opinion of the documents provided?" Sayako questioned.

Hinata considered bringing up Naruto's apartment but thought better of it, there would be little point bringing extra attention to the issue. People tended to get very secretive around Naruto, while she was sure Sayako was more open minded than most it was not worth the risk.

Hinata went on to tell Sayako about her observations regarding the clan businesses to which she got a hum of approval from the stern lady.

"And if you were in charge what measures would you take to increase profitability?" Sayako questioned.

Giving it some thought the main thing she thought Konoha could do with was some more variety. "I would begin importing more from Suna, if we could get local goods from there we would diversify what we could offer here. Perhaps even import our goods to Suna since they are our allies" Hinata commented.

"Yes while in principle that is a reasonable idea the reason we do not already do so is the trip to Suna via merchant Caravan is roughly two weeks the time taken is an issue but we would also have to pay import and export taxes. As well as this due to the length of the journey bandits tend to roam the trade routes as such many merchants are wary to make the trip. Due to this we would have to hire Shinobi for C possibly B ranked missions for each trip to ensure safety which would eat into our profit margins." Sayako explained.

"Do you see Hinata-sama at present the venture is not economically viable for the amount of effort it would take. If we had a cheap and effective way to store and transport the goods then it would be another issue" said Sayako.

"What about sealing scrolls?" Hinata questioned.

Once again a small quirk of Sayako's lips was the only praise Hinata received.

"The problem with that is the inherent storage capacity of mass production storage scrolls. Yes it would let us carry more goods but not in sufficient quantity we would still need someone to ferry the large quantity of scrolls so it's no real difference to purchasing and travelling with the raw goods. For example a mass produced scroll may be able to store 500 kunai but would only store perhaps 50 metres of cloth. We export all over Hi no Kuni so the amount of material we would get through is staggering, not to mention if you wanted to pick up local products that would take up extra space"

"Also it is not feasible to hire a Fuinjutsu Master as Jiraiya-Sama is the only one Konoha possesses and even if he were around the costs for his services would make the venture moot. Fuinjutsu is a hard skill to come by since the Uzumaki's downfall" Sayako said as her eyes suddenly went wide at the slip.

"U-uzumaki's" Hinata whispered in shock.

Knowing that the young heiress was unlikely to let the matter drop Sayako sighed.

"Yes the Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure were renowned and feared as masters of fuinjutsu. During the second Shinobi world war a coalition between Iwa, Kiri and Kumo set out to destroy the village. Konoha was allied with Uzu at the time but we were too late to reinforce them as a result Uzu was destroyed but not before taking over 50% of the invasion force with them. It was due to this act that we were able to be victorious in the war due to our enemies weakened state. To honour their sacrifice we wear the crest of Uzu on the back of our Jonin and Chunin flak jackets." Sayako explained solemnly.

"H-how come we were never taught this in the academy?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know Hinata-sama they must have changed the curriculum" Sayako said as her eyes tightened somewhat.

"She's lying" Hinata thought to herself.

"Now enough of this I am satisfied with your performance today, we will continue your lessons every Saturday from now on so run along" Sayako said forcibly ejecting Hinata from the room.

Hinata's mind was whirling as she made her way back to her room "the Uzumaki clan, why does everyone clam up as soon as an Uzumaki is mentioned, what are the adults hiding" Hinata muttered to herself as she entered her room.

* * *

"Ahem" Hinata heard from beside her as Kiba made the exaggerated motions for clearing his throat.

"I hereby begin the first weekly team 8 bonding session, congratulations everyone on completing our first week as Genin" Kiba said with a shit eating grin.

Shino tilted his head to the side in confusion "weekly?" he enquired.

"Well yea I figure we may as well make this a weekly thing, since you guys are going to be watching my back as I break hearts and take names all over the elemental nations I figure the least I could do was let you bask in my presence every now and then"

Hinata could only shake her head at her teammate's antics, and the worst part was she was unsure if he was joking or not.

"Kiba-san there were so many fallacies with that statement that we would be here till next week if I were to highlight them. However in the spirit of team cohesion I will let it go." Replied the stoic Aburame.

"What?" replied Kiba as Akamaru whined next to him placing his paws on his head.

"Um I believe Shino-kun feels you shouldn't be so boastful Kiba-kun especially since you are still struggling with the Genjutsu" Hinata replied causing Kiba to slump slightly.

When the trio had met up the first thing they did was compare notes on their assignment Hinata and Shino had both succeeded in their task but Kiba was still having difficulty.

"Gaah no offence to Sensei and all but who needs Genjutsu when you have kick ass Ninjutsu right Akamaru?" Kiba said getting a bark of approval from his canine companion.

"Kiba-san Genjutsu is a valid and well respected area of Shinobi arts" Shino commented. "And I do not think sensei would appreciate your derision, isn't that right sensei"

For a moment Hinata thought Kiba turned into the reincarnation of the yellow flash as he darted up from his seat and took a defensive posture expecting to see their sensei behind him.

Kiba's sharp movements caused most people in the restaurant to send queer looks their way.

Looking around frantically and discovering there was nobody there Kiba turned to face Shino.

"D-did you just make a joke" Kiba said with his mouth hanging open.

Seeing the look on Kiba's face Hinata was struggling to keep her mirth at bay, however the dam broke at Shino's next comment.

"I believe it is wise to keep an atmosphere of levity during our personal moments"

If it were not for his glasses Hinata would have sworn she saw Shino's eyes twinkling, then she remembered that nobody ever saw an Aburame's eyes so she must have been mistaken.

"Well played Shino, but I hope you realise that this will require a response" He said with a grin.

"You won't know when it will happen but at some point in the future I will get you back and it will be amazing" He boasted.

"I see... in that case I may need to employ the services of Naruto-san in the future" Shino replied completely wiping the smug look of Kiba's face.

There was a time in the academy when the two of them competed to see who was the true prankster king of Konoha. It had taken three weeks for the smell of female dog pheromones to was out, suffice to say that had been a very uncomfortable few weeks for the Inuzuka.

"N-no fair, no recruiting help from outside the team" Kiba stuttered.

"A pity" Shino murmured as Kiba took his seat once more.

Once he sat back down he noticed that Hinata was beside herself with laughter and had pulled her hood up over her head in order to help stifle her giggles.

Deciding to have a bit of revenge Kiba said "and what about you Hinata that's a pretty fancy new outfit you have there. Did you have anyone special in mind when you picked it out... I don't know blond hair, blue eyes perhaps even some whiskers?" He teased causing Hinata's laughing to abruptly stop and her face to flush atomic red.

From there time seemed to pass quickly and before they knew it the sun was beginning to set, Hinata was amazed they just spent hours and hours talking.

"I guess this is what having friends is like" she thought.

While she could do without some of Kiba's teasing it was nice to just relax with people who did not see Hyuga Hinata clan heiress or Hyuga Hinata failure, it was nice just to be plain old Hinata.

 **Reputation increased with Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba by 50**

* * *

"What do you mean she just disappeared Sai?" Spoke the man sitting behind the desk.

"As I said Danzo-sama, she stepped through the doorway and did not return for hours. When she did she looked visibly fatigued"

Danzo paused for a moment in deep though, he had not heard of a technique like that before, what did it mean?

"For now she is an unknown, I dislike unknowns. Continue your surveillance but do not approach, for now consider this your full time assignment" Danzo commanded.

"Yes Danzo-sama"

 **Authors Notes**

 **Sorry this update took so long; every time I sat down to write it I ended up having to stop because a new interview came in. Thankfully I have had a job offer so I should be able to get back to a more regular update schedule soon probably by the end of May as to give me time to settle in.**

 **If this chapter does not flow too well I apologies as it was written mostly in loads of short bursts. What I plan to do is go back to all my previous chapters and do some light editing for spelling and grammar but right now I am exhausted.**

 **On that note I am now going to be looking for a Beta reader, if any of my readers are interested then the only requirements I have is a good grasp on English and solid grasp of Naruto lore preferably having been a beta once before but not necessary.**

 **I recommend anyone interested to check out the rare spawn contest as there have been some very creative entries and any that make it in to the story will of course be given full credit.**

 **One thing I do need to clarify as a couple of people have asked is that Educated does not give merit points it increased the stat points she gained on level up from 5-6.**

 **Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, If you have the time it would mean the world if you dropped me a review.**


	8. Chapter 8

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

"Sensei!" Team 8 chorused in unison as their teacher entered the training ground.

They had agreed upon leaving the restaurant last night to meet up early this morning in order to help Kiba get a hang on the Jutsu. They had barely finished in time when Kurenai made her presence known.

"Hello team, I'm glad to see you all here bright and early." Kurenai smiled down at her team. "Once again I'm sorry for having to postpone our scheduled training, but I hope you put the time to good use."

"Hey Sensei, can you tell us anything about the mission you went on?" Kiba said, practically jumping up and down in front of her.

Seeing her student's enthusiasm, Kurenai could only shake her head and chuckle as she also spied the expectant looks Hinata and Shino were giving her.

Shinobi they may be but they are still kids after all, she thought.

"Yes, yes, settle down Kiba. Somehow I expected you all would want to know so I made sure to get permission. Now just so you know, it's only the fact that this was a B rank mission and that I can use it as a teaching aid that I am allowed to tell you, I don't think I have to explain that this is still a B ranked Secret," she said as she let her eyes rove over each of her students.

In unison all three Genin furiously nodded their heads in understanding.

Seeing their assent Kurenai felt comfortable to continue. "As you know, I was assisting a comrade that came back from the newly founded Oto no Kuni. Now what you may not know is that Oto no Kuni has recently established its own Shinobi Village, the Hidden Sound," she elaborated, taking a deep breath.

"The Shinobi I was assisting was tasked to scout Oto no Kuni's borders and ran into a border patrol. A scuffle ensued and our forces had to retreat. However, one of the team was caught in some new type of Genjutsu that they could not dispel, thus I was called in to assist in breaking it"

"Whoa cool. Did you manage it, sensei?" Kiba asked.

Seeing that Kiba looked ready to vibrate through the ground, Kurenai decided to get to the point.

"Yes I did, but it was unlike anything I have dealt with before. In fact, you specifically should watch out if you encounter any Hidden sound Shinobi Kiba."

Confusion passed over her Genins' faces and, as she was about to explain, she heard a soft murmuring coming from her shyest Genin.

"What was that Hinata?" she prompted.

Seeing the spotlight now on her, Hinata retreated inside her new outfit. She would have to ask about that later when she could get the girl alone.

"Um, I said an auditory Genjutsu" the Hyuga heiress said quietly.

Kurenai had to struggle to keep a small smile off her face; she had not expected any of them to guess it.

"What makes you think that, Hinata?" Kurenai said, trying to draw the girl out of her shell more.

Kurenai continued to watch Hinata. The girl straightened up as if she had just remembered something. Her body language became a bit more confident and she held her head a bit higher., Kurenai sent her an approving glance as the girl spoke.

"From the assignment you set us, I noticed how Genjutsu can be used to fool more senses than just sight, even the basic one you gave us. Even though it was not its primary purpose, it was still very flexible... I guess it stands to reason that there would also be Genjutsu tailored for different purposes." Hinata paused to collect her thoughts.

"Some Genjutsu don't even require hand signs and can be completed with just eye contact, showing that there are different delivery mechanisms. But I have never heard of one that uses sound so I could see how a Konoha Ninja would be caught off guard. You then said Kiba would be susceptible and, with his enhanced senses, it makes sense for it to be auditory or smell. Of the two, sound makes the most sense," Hinata concluded.

"And besides, they are from 'Oto no Kuni,'" she finished with a tiny smirk.

Kurenai looked round to see that Kiba and Shino were paying close attention as Hinata spoke. "Well done, Hinata., Perhaps I should start you off on some more advanced Genjutsu and theory. That was very well reasoned," she praised, getting a smile from the younger girl.

Only a week out of the academy and all three of them were showing a startling amount of progress, they had each all learnt one new technique and a new jutsu. She could not help but feel a bit smug at the thought of rubbing it in Kakashi's and Asuma's faces. Both of their teams were still on team building exercises.

Hinata definitely surprised her. She had known the girl for years and she had always suffered from a lack of confidence. However recently she seemed to be coming into her own., Kiba's boisterousness and Shino's stoic support seemed to be doing her a world of good.

"Anyway suffice to say the lesson you should take from this is not to underestimate your opponents, even a new village can be a threat. I don't want to hear about any of my students dying on a mission because they underestimated someone," Kurenai said becoming very serious.

"Now enough with that, I want you all to show me how you have progressed since I have been away"

* * *

 **Reputation increased with Yuhi Kurenai by 150**

Hinata could not help but smile as she noticed the brief look of pride Kurenai sent her due to her analysis of the Oto Genjutsu. It gave her a warm feeling inside that she had impressed her sensei.

Over the years Kurenai had always been there for her as a surrogate big sister figure, the same role apparently that her mother played for her Sensei. She felt a bit bad for hiding her ability from her but resolved to tell her eventually after she could have confidence in her own skills.

Eventually the training continued with Kurenai giving pointers to Shino and Kiba in the use of the Genjutsu. When it came round to her turn her sensei was suitably impressed.

 **STORY QUEST COMPLETED**

 **MY FIRST GENJUTSU**

 **OBJECTIVE: learn Genjutsu: Shinkiro and come up with three unique uses.**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Able to demonstrate one of those uses**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Able to demonstrate two of those uses**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Able to demonstrate three of those uses**

 **MAIN REWARD: 200 EXP, 100 Reputation with Kurenai**

 **BONUS REWARD: 50 EXP**

 **BONUS REWARD: 100 EXP**

 **BONUS REWARD: Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique)**

"Well, Hinata, I have to say you certainly took to this like a duck to water," Kurenai praised.

"Kiba and Shino, I am very impressed with the both of you as well. I know Genjutsu is something outside of your normal wheelhouse but it is another string to your bow that could mean the difference between life and death."

"However, you two need a bit more practice before I am comfortable letting you lose on a higher level skill. Hinata you however seem to be ready," Kurenai said as she handed Hinata the scroll.

"Yes Sensei" Hinata said with pride.

"Well done Hinata-chan, but enjoy it while you can we will catch up in no time" Kiba said as he draped one arm around Shino's shoulders dragging the boy off to train.

"Well it seems you've found some friendly competition" Kurenai snorted.

Shaking her head at Kiba's antics which was something she found herself doing more and more of late. "Everything is a competition to Kiba-kun, it's all I can do to keep up at times"

"Well you can't deny the results, you look like a completely different person to last week Hinata, I'm proud" Kurenai said getting Hinata to flush bright red.

"Well some things never change" Kurenai joked "come on let me see you practice for a bit and I'll give you some pointers"

* * *

"Urgh so tired, who would have thought Genjutsu was so tiring" Kiba complained as he ate a piece of steak.

"What did you think my training was going to be easy Kiba" Kurenai scolded as she put another piece of meat on the barbeque.

Team 8 had finished their training and Kurenai had kindly treated them to food to make up for missing some training for a few days.

Training had turned out to be very productive. With pointers from Kurenai Hinata had managed to gain two levels in Genjutsu mastery and four levels in Genjutsu: Shinkiro. One of those levels in Genjutsu mastery came from her giving tips to Shino and Kiba; it appeared that skills could be raised through teaching as well.

"Hey Sensei, since were so awesome do you think we could get a C rank mission this week?" Kiba asked.

"A C rank huh, well while I am proud of your progress I don't think that would be a good Idea. I would like at least a month of experience under our belts first, and besides we have not gone over any formations yet so putting you guys in the field would be a bad idea at this point." Kurenai surmised.

"Sensei is correct, while I too am pleased by the team's cohesiveness we have yet to attempt any real combat manoeuvres" Shino added.

"Sensei when do you think we will start working on that?" Hinata said getting a chuckle from Kurenai.

"I'm glad you all are so eager but one step at a time. First of all this week I plan to push you all hard in sparing so that I can get a firm grip on your skill level. In fact tomorrow will be almost entirely sparing. If all goes to plan next week and the week after will be team exercises and if you impress me I 'may' let you guys go on a C rank deal?"

 **CHALLENGE PRESENTED**

 **OBJECTIVE: Pass Kurenai's test**

 **REWARDS: Ability to undertake C ranked missions, 100 reputation with team 8 members**

 **FAILURE: Must wait an additional month to take C ranked missions, -50 Reputation with members of team 8.**

 **Y/N**

"You're on Sensei" Kiba said.

 **Challenge accepted**

"Wait what!" Hinata thought as she saw the challenge screen close. That had never happened before, was it due to the challenge being open to all of team 8 that Kiba's acceptance counted for them all?

"Kiba-san," Shino said in an unusually serious tone "I would appreciate it if in future you would consult us before making a decision on behalf of the team."

Looking more contrite Kiba's head seemed to droop a bit as he apologised. For some reason Hinata had the mental image of an annoyed Shino hitting Kiba on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.

"Anyway I take it your parents are going to have more of a hands on role in your training now," Kurenai said in order to move the conversation into safer waters.

"Yes Sensei, now that I have graduated my father has seen fit to begin instructing me in more of our clan techniques," said Shino.

"Yea my mum said the same thing, she says she is gonna put Akamaru and I through the ringer," Kiba said, getting a whine of confirmation from the pup sat atop his head.

"Um, father has not mentioned anything to me yet," Hinata said, while trying to hide her disappointment.

"Don't worry Hinata, I'll have a word with your father. Your parents as well Kiba and Shino as I want to make sure we are not rehashing the same ground when I prepare your training schedule."

"Anyway it's getting late, you all should head home you have a busy day ahead of you tomorrow".

* * *

The situation was tense. A gentle wind passed through the area making the ears of her hoodie sway gently. Her stance was strong and her mind was focused as she observed the panting form of her opponent.

A thin sheen of sweat trickled down Kiba's forehead and his breathing was slightly laboured. She could see Akamaru slowly move his way towards her through a patch of tall grass, hoping to take advantage of any inattentiveness from her. Unfortunately for the pup with her Byakugan active he was entirely within the scope of her vision.

Almost immediately after arriving this morning team 8 had been thrust into sparring, the first match of the day was between herself and Kiba. She had decided to take a more passive approach to this battle and test her agility and dexterity so for the better part of the last ten minutes.

Her match with The Rabbit Deva made her aware of a few of her deficiencies; she was not truly making the best use of her skills. With her Byakugan she could see the Chakra build up in a technique giving her ample time to dodge or counter if she could disrupt the Tenketsu in time. Her natural grace allowed her to thrive in close quarters combat by flowing round some of her enemies' moves.

Of course this was only possible here through some trial and error where Kiba had scored a few hits, but for the last few minutes she had effectively neutralised his offense.

A boon for this was the fact that she was now faster than her teammate a fact that seemed to greatly confuse him.

A rustle from behind alerted her to the charge of the pup as she swayed to the side and delivered a chop to the back of the Ninkens neck rendering him unconscious.

"Damnit Akamaru!" Kiba cried as he bound towards his companion aiming to deliver a clawed swipe to her midsection.

As the blow drew closer Hinata used her right hand to push the blow to the side, meanwhile her left hand came up palm open to deliver a Chakra infused strike straight to Kiba's face.

Whilst there were no Tenketsu in the head the application of Chakra was enough to interfere with the brains signals and cause her teammate to be temporarily stunned.

Reacting quickly, Hinata scanned his body before employing a quick burst of Chakra flow to enhance her speed as her hands blurred in front of her.

"Gah!" Kiba spat as her fingers darted across his body closing of His tenketsu one by one until he eventually fell bonelessly to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Winner Hinata!" Kurenai declared seeing Kiba was in no fit state to continue.

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **Quest: sparing against Kiba**

 **Objective: defeat Kiba**

 **Rewards: 250 EXP**

Hinata sucked in a deep breath to compose herself and deactivated her Byakugan as she felt a wave of pride wash over her, just for a moment she let herself bask in her victory before a pained mumble grasped her attention.

"Ugh, what just happened," Kiba moaned as he attempted and failed to sit up.

"I would advise you not too move Kiba, it's going to take a while for your tenketsu to reopen," Kurenai explained as she channelled some Chakra to her hands that emitted a green glow eliciting a sigh of relief from Kiba.

"I may not be a medic but I do know a thing or two," She said with a small smile as she tended to the wounds.

"Man Hinata-chan what happened when did you get so fast?" Kiba questioned.

Hinata suddenly felt a bit nervous and felt herself fidgeting under Kiba's gaze "I managed to borrow some training weights from Gai-sensei and have been practicing every day after training" She said as she felt a half truth would be better.

"Well whatever you're doing is working" groaned Kiba.

"I'm sorry Kiba-kun" she said deflating a bit.

"Sorry, why would you apologise? You kicked my but, that just means I need to train harder to get some payback. You better be prepared Hinata-chan, I'm gunning for you now" Kiba said with a toothy grin and a thumbs up.

"Both of you that was a good match. Hinata do you think you're up for a spar with Shino?" Kurenai said as she finished tending to Kiba.

 **A NEW QUEST HAS BEEN CREATED**

 **Quest: sparing against Shino**

 **Objective: defeat Shino**

 **Rewards:**

 **Success: 250 exp**

 **Failure: 100 exp**

 **Y/N**

"Yes sensei" Hinata said as she accepted the quest.

After moving into position Kurenai said "Ok both of you make the seal of confrontation". After watching both the genin pay their opponent the necessary respect she called the match to start.

Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan not wanting to once more be caught unaware by a Mushi Bunshin.

As the fight started she saw Shino immediately leap away to create some distance between them.

"Unlike yourself and Kiba I am not foolish enough to think that I can compete in terms of Taijutsu," he said as he raised both of his arms upward, the clearing being filled with a loud buzzing noise.

"However I do not need too," he said as a cloud of insects erupted from both of his sleeves.

The cloud of insects was heading directly towards her and she was forced to dive out of the way lest they consume her.

Hinata circled round the training field weaving her way between trees, boulders and shrubbery to elude the insects in their relentless pursuit.

Thankfully she was faster than the insects so it soon became a game of cat and mouse, she would avoid them and attempt to create a path to strike at Shino and he would attempt to corner her to drain her of her Chakra.

After a few minutes Shino decided to split his two larger swarms into four smaller ones to give him more manoeuvrability.

With her Byakugan active she was able to see any attempts to flank her and outwit them, but it was quickly becoming more difficult as Shino was learning to adjust to her movements.

"At this rate you will tire before I do Hinata-san while I remain stationary you are forced to move about at a constant pace." Shino said.

That was it Hinata smiled to herself, while she had no way to safely pierce his defences she could turn this into a battle of attrition. Every now and then she saw one of the hives return to Shino to restore their Chakra. Shino might think his reserves would last longer than her physical endurance but he had no idea about her gamer's body, her physical endurance was limitless.

Deciding a change of scenery was in order Hinata dashed towards the tree line and into the Forest as she leapt onto one of the trees and sped from branch to branch.

It was a fact that all the other hidden villages knew that a Konoha Shinobi was arguably faster in the canopy of a Forest then they were on the ground. So utilising her improved speed Hinata was able to compensate for the increased swarms, the increase in obstacles also slowed them down without hindering her as with her Byakugan she was easily able to plot the best course.

Soon seconds grew into minutes and minutes grew into an hour, Shino had been forced to split his swarm into a set of eight and her Byakugan showed her the mental and physical strain from the chase had caused his brow to become soaked in sweat and one of his knees to buckle.

Seeing her opportunity Hinata burst from the tree line with the swarms on her tail as she flung a barrage of Kunai at her teammate.

Shino was able to leap to the side out of the way, but hitting was never her objective. The small lapse in concentration was all she needed as the swarms surrounding her seemed to falter slightly.

With a quick application of Chakra flow she was able to quickly round on her opponent who was getting back on his feet.

Using the momentum of her charge Hinata felt the surge of Chakra leave her core and travel up her arms like flowing water illuminating her palms. She felt her muscles stretch and her limbs relax and her arms came up and darted like pit vipers towards her opponents exposed chest.

" **Juken-Dengen Sutoraiku"** she cried as she made contact sending Shino flying back with an explosion of Chakra enhanced force.

The poor Genin was sent hurtling back as he tumbled listlessly ending up in a pile a few meters away clearly unconscious.

Such was their shock that Kurenai blinked a few times with her mouth ajar before regaining her composure enough to cal the match.

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **Quest: sparing against Shino**

 **Objective: defeat Shino**

 **Rewards: 250 EXP**

 **Running has increased by 1**

 **Running has increased by 1**

 **Byakugan has increased by 1**

 **Juken has increased by 1**

 **Juken-Dengen Sutoraiku increased by 1**

 **Brute force is not always the solution, by carefully thinking through your battle plan Wisdom has increased by 1.**

Hinata let her Byakugan deactivate as a wave of mental fatigue washed over her, while she was not physically exhausted keeping up her concentration for over an hour was tiring none the less. She felt that if she had gone on for too much longer she may have started to make a few mistakes.

Due to her deactivating her Byakugan she missed the appraising looks Kurenai sent her way, like she was some sort of puzzle.

"Well I was going to have Kiba fight Shino next but..." she trailed off as she looked at the sorry states of the males of the group "that no longer looks like its possible"

"Either way I think I got enough from this so why don't we call it a day, it's near lunch time anyway and I think you all deserve a rest" Kurenai said as she went over to pick up Shino and Kiba.

"At any rate I think I need to drop these to home as I can't see them getting there under their own power" Kurenai said as she disappeared with the two boys in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

After a quick lunch at the Dragon of the west Hinata returned to the training field intent on getting a grasp on some of her new Jutsu's.

Searching through her inventory she withdrew the scroll given to her by the Third Hokage.

 **Would you like to learn the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body flicker technique)**

 **Y/N**

Pressing yes the scroll broke down once more into motes of light as the knowledge was absorbed by her body.

 **Shunshin no Jutsu**

 **Rank: D**

 **Hand Seals: Tiger**

 **Range: 50 meters**

 **CP Cost: 20**

Eager to try it out Hinata made the handseal and found herself darting forward in a burst of speed with a puff of smoke obscuring her movement that she was entirely unprepared for which sent her spiralling forwards to the ground.

 **-5HP**

"Ouch, it looks like I need to be a bit more careful with that in the future" she said as she dusted herself off. She also made a note to ask Kurenai- sensei how to make her Shunshin show leaves instead of smoke at a later date.

This time readying herself for a bout of explosive speed she picked a destination and channelled her Chakra for the Jutsu.

All of a sudden she found herself darting forwards once more, only this time she managed to maintain control. Once she reached her destination she took a moment to steady herself form the force of the Jutsu.

"Hmm I wonder" she muttered out loud as she activated her Byakugan.

Once more she channelled the Chakra and performed the Shunshin no Jutsu darting across the training field, only this time she made sure to pay attention to her own Chakra pathways during the duration of the jutsu.

"Hmm it seems I was right" she murmured to herself.

"It's a lot like Chakra flow, I seem to be sending a concentrated burst of Chakra to my legs but instead of maintaining it I let it pool to the point of bursting then take off from the ground" she surmised.

She practiced going back and forth several more times until she was satisfied she could do it to a reasonable degree.

 **Shunshin no jutsu has increased by 1**

 **Shunshin no jutsu has increased by 1**

Next she attempted to experiment with the destination of her Shunshin, by seeing if she could use it to go to pinpoint locations such as tree branches or even just to jump off of the ground.

Using it to gain altitude proved incredibly easy and going to an exact location did not require much more effort either.

After making her way through half her Chakra Hinata felt confident in her use of the new skill, however something had been bothering her while she had been practicing.

Since it was still reasonably early Hinata decided she would indulge her curiosity and check it out. So with a series of Shunshin bursts Hinata found herself once more standing outside the shinobi library.

As she entered she made her way to the theory section looking for a book she remembered Iruka-sensei mentioning at the academy.

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **Quest: sneak into the chunin section**

 **Reward:**

 **2000 exp**

 **Access to chunin grade materials until caught or you leave**

 **Failure:**

 **Interrogated at Interrogation and torture department**

 **Possible loss of ninja licence**

 **Y/N**

Hinata shook her head as that quest popped up once more, it wasn't like she needed to go into that section especially when she could ask her sensei for any materials she may need. She declined the quest once more and pulled the book she was looking for from the shelves.

Once she had the book she made her way to the seating area and was surprised to see Sakura sitting at one of the tables with a book on Chakra theory.

The noise she made coming over caused the pink haired girl to look up and give her a small smile.

"Hi Hinata-san not out training?" Sakura asked.

"Hello Sakura-san, Kurenai-sensei let us finish early due to Shino and Kiba being unable to continue today," Hinata said causing raised eyebrows from Sakura.

"Are they okay, I can't imagine Kiba skimping out on training" Sakura enquired.

Deciding to join the girl at the desk Hinata took out a seat and sat down "They were injured after our sparing matches today," she said.

Sakura snorted and replied "Dumb boys I bet they got too enthusiastic with each other and ended up injuring themselves," she laughed causing Hinata to fidget, something that was not over looked by the pinkette.

"Um... actually it was me that injured the both of them during our team sparing," Hinata said very quietly.

"What!" Sakura screeched gaining her a disapproving look from the desk Chunin which caused her to mutter a sheepish apology.

"You managed to injure both your teammates" Sakura said causing Hinata to frown.

"I-I mean... sorry that came out blunter than I intended but come on your one of the gentlest people I know how did you manage to do that; you never beat either in the academy"

It was in this moment that Hinata experienced something she had not before, it was a gnawing irritating feeling that seemed to bubble up inside of her. "We are no longer in the academy Sakura, some of us have grown up," she said cuttingly.

Yes for the first time ever she felt like someone had injured her pride. She was no stranger to belittlement in the past but unlike then she did not have anything to feel pride towards. Her defeating both of her teammates was something she accomplished entirely with her own strength so to have someone make light of that achievement was something that served to irritate her.

 **Reputation with Haruno Sakura decreased by 30**

Surreptitiously Hinata opened up her reputation screen and saw Sakura had dropped from Neutral to the disliked category which made her feel bad for snapping at the girl.

"Well excuse me!" Sakura said with an angry blush on her face.

Taking a deep breath Hinata composed herself "I apologise for snapping at you Sakura-san but please take care not insult people in the future"

"Anyway why have you finished early as well?" Hinata asked.

Sakura looked at Hinata for a moment before releasing a sigh of irritation "Kakashi-sensei said we could go after team exercises as he wanted to talk with Sasuke alone. I came here and I think Naruto went to training ground 15." Sakura said as she put her books away in her bag.

"Look I have to go, maybe I'll see you later" she said as she walked off.

Hinata shrugged her shoulder, if she was going to get upset so easily then fine.

What Sakura said was interesting though, training grounds 15-30 were unallocated and free to be used by anyone so Naruto must have been doing some personal training.

"I wonder if he learnt the Shunshin yet?" she thought

However getting her mind back on the task at hand she opened up the book of theory and started reading.

This was a book that went into further detail on the science behind Jutsu's specifically handseals.

The book explained that handseals were used to shape the Chakra inside one's body in order to produce a Jutsu, the more complex the Jutsu the more handseals it would need with some exceptions.

The book also explained that though useful they were not essential for the completion of a Jutsu, they merely aided the user in shaping their Chakra; though it is possible to do so without seals.

The example the book used was **Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu (Water style: Water dragon Jutsu)** which contained forty-four individual hand seals for its use. This is normally completely unsuitable for combat bar surprise attacks as the Jutsu takes too long to execute unless one has a profound grasp of hand seals.

However with sufficient Chakra control one can internally mould their own Chakra to reduce the number of hand seals used. A prime example of this is most D rank Jutsu, most Jounin are expected to be able to perform utility Jutsu such as the Shunshin without hand seals.

That was it, that was exactly what she was looking for. When she analysed her own Chakra she thought she may be able to perform a sealess Jutsu if she had the required level of proficiency in the Jutsu and sufficient Chakra control.

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **A SEALESS JUTSU**

 **Objective: Learn to perform the Shunshin no Jutsu without hand seals**

 **Reward: 600 EXP**

 **Y/N**

Well she was planning on doing so anyway but if the game was going to reward her for it then who was she to say no, she thought as she clicked yes.

* * *

"Damn why won this work!" Hinata heard as she arrived at training ground 15.

Quickly and silently she hid herself behind a tree as she watched Naruto struggling with the Shunshin no Jutsu.

She activated her Byakugan and observed him for a few moments as her performed the Jutsu.

 **Byakugan has increased by 1**

It seemed he was not channelling his Chakra to his legs correctly, when Naruto was doing it he seemed to be putting far too much Chakra into it which overloaded the Jutsu sending him flying.

After another failed attempt naruto picked up a stone in and in frustration threw it in her direction.

"Eeep!" Hinata shouted as she dived out of the way.

"Hey whose there, come out or ill kick your ass!" Naruto shouted.

Deciding to sneak away Hinata attempted to crawl to safety.

"So it's like that is it fine **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!** " Naruto shouted as thirty clones poofed into existence.

"What, they have their own Chakra systems. What kind of Jutsu is that?" Hinata thought as she stood up.

"Um please don't attack Naruto-kun I'm sorry for spying on you," she said as she came out into the open.

"Huh Hinata-chan" the thirty naruto's chorused.

"I was just curious to see how you were coming along with the Shunshin no Jutsu" she replied.

Seeing that there was no threat Naruto dismissed his clones and wandered over.

"Not great I can't seem to get this thing to work," he said as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

In a rare display of courage in front of her crush Hinata said "W-would you like my help to learn it?"

Naruto's face immediately lit up in a huge grin which caused Hinata to develop butterflies in her stomach "would I!" he exclaimed as he grabbed her hands and dragged her further into the training grounds.

"Ok let me have it Hinata-sensei" he said with a cheeky grin.

"S-sensei" Hinata stammered.

"Yea your teaching me something so it seemed appropriate" Naruto shrugged.

 **Would you like to accept Uzumaki Naruto as a student?**

 **Y/N**

Hinata blanched as she saw the message pop up but pressed yes anyway.

 **To unlock the full teaching benefits the party system must be unlocked and the student must be a member of the gamer's party.**

 **Teacher bonus (locked)**

 **Student Bonus (Locked)**

 **Gain an additional 50% reputation with students**

 **Gain 25% of earned exp to skills and jutsu taught to student**

"So how do we start Sensei?" Naruto questioned knocking Hinata out of her daze.

Hinata adopted a slightly pensive expression as she realised something she had overlooked, "Naruto-kun I need you to do me a favour" she said pleadingly.

Naruto studied her for a moment before nodding his head which prompted Hinata to activate her Byakugan.

"Wow cool" Naruto said. "Hey Hinata-chan what's that?"

"This is the Byakugan Naruto-kun, the Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuga clan. It allows us to see Chakra and have 360 degree vision" she said taking a deep breath "and you can't tell anyone that I have it"

Naruto adopted a confused look on his face "but why, it's part of your clan right?"

Hinata was unsure of just how much she wanted to reveal but continued onwards "Nobody in my clan knows that I have activated the Byakugan. I have told my team not to say anything and I would prefer if you did not tell anyone"

Tilting his head to the side in confusion Naruto responded "Sure I won't tell anyone but why don't you want anyone to know?"

Steadying herself for fear of his rejection Hinata looked down to the ground as she felt her eyes start to water "In my clan I am seen as a failure, a no good waste of space because I had not activated the Byakugan. It's only made worse because i am the clan heiress, people expect things of me and so far I have been unable to deliver." She said sadly.

Due to the Byakugan being active even though she was looking down she could still see Naruto's fists clenching tightly "Looks like even he is disappointed in me" she thought sadly.

"Cut the crap!" Naruto shouted "I should go down there and kick all of their asses Dattebayo!" Naruto said as he paced back and forth.

"How could they think you're a failure, you placed second for the girls in our class and your even teaching me; your awesome Hinata-chan" he said as he strode towards her and took her hands.

"If people are giving you crap then we'll just have to train so hard that they can't help but pay attention!" Naruto said with a wide grin.

"Naruto-kun" Hinata gasped.

"Come on Hinata lets start training" Naruto said as he dragged her off, so stunned was she that she had not even registered that they had been holding hands for the past few minutes.

* * *

"Naruto-kun have you learnt Chakra flow yet" Hinata questioned after watching him fail another time.

"Chakra flow, what's that?" he questioned.

It was just like she thought, from watching him it seemed like he had trouble regulating the Chakra flow to each of his limbs, either sending too much or too little.

"Chakra flow is a skill that allows you to enhance your physical attributes using Chakra" Hinata said getting a confused look from the blond.

"It can make you stronger and faster" she simplified.

"I think having you learn that will teach you how to send Chakra around your body better, which should help with the Shunshin"

* * *

Several hours later and Naruto was darting from side to side using his Chakra augmented speed to run nimbly round the training field with Hinata carefully monitoring his Chakra coils.

* * *

" **Shunshin no Jutsu"** Naruto said as he darted from one spot to another in a large plume of smoke.

As the smoke cleared an exuberant Naruto was found jumping up and down on the spot "I did it, I did it".

Hinata felt the familiar feeling of pride well up in her chest as she watched Naruto succeed. While she was pleased for him she was also excited, she had spent the last few hours carefully observing his Chakra and the way it functioned.

Her Byakugan had levelled up twice, it seemed to get more experience when she was actively observing something rather than using it passively. In that time she felt she had a good idea of how Chakra should look using the Shunshin, now all she needed to do was test it.

Closing her eyes to concentrate she tried to imagine the shape her Chakra should take in order to perform the Jutsu.

She quickly opened her eyes and picked a destination " **Shunshin no Jutsu** " she whispered as she flashed from one spot to the next.

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **A SEALESS JUTSU**

 **Objective: Learn to perform the Shunshin no Jutsu without hand seals**

 **Reward: 600 EXP**

She felt her Chakra drain it seemed that to do it without a seal required about 50% more Chakra than normal.

Naruto in his joy did not seem to notice her jutsu and ran up to her to thank her.

"Hinata-chan your awesome" he said as he wrapped her in a hug and started jumping up and down.

"You're a better teacher than Kakashi-sensei"

 **Reputation with Uzumaki Naruto increased by 600**

 **You are now friendly with Uzumaki Naruto**

 **Charisma increased by 1**

 **Charisma increased by 1**

Unfortunately the close proximity was too much for Hinata to handle as her daily allotment of courage had been spent so with a blissful expression on her face she passed out.

"Hinata, oi Hinata!"

* * *

Sitting behind his desk Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe as he watched the situation play out in front of him. With a throaty chuckle he shook his head and opened up a sealed draw in his desk with a small application of Chakra.

From the desk he pulled a photograph that depicted a tall blond man and a beautiful redheaded woman who seemed to be in her last trimester of pregnancy.

"Ah Minato, Kushina I wish you could see your son now. I hope you can forgive an old man for his foolishness over the years, but despite his trials the will of fire still burns brightly inside Naruto-kun," he said as he got up and walked to the window where he could observe the entire village.

The sun was beginning to set and it bathed the Village in a golden light with a crimson edge "Burns brightly indeed."

 **Authors Notes**

 **Hi all, sorry for the slight delay with this chapter, but it was for a good reason. I have recently acquired the services of Winter Alley as a beta so hopefully this chapter reads a little smoother; let me know what you think.**

 **In other news I have officially started my new job so my update schedule should stabilise soon.**

 **I hope this chapter appeases the NaruHina fans as we got to spend a bit of time with them interacting together.**

 **Also how did I do in the two fights for this chapter, I was quite proud of the Shino fight as I think Shino would be an extremely hard opponent for Hinata at this stage in her development. If she did not have a gamer's body I could really have seen him winning. But her quick thinking shows she is getting smarter and stronger.**

 **As usual I am blown away by the positive response this story has generated so thank you all so much. But I have a quick favour for you guys, if you like the story then please give it a fave so more people can find it, or drop a review. A review only takes a few seconds and it really does make my day.**

 **Till next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

"I never realised how boring accounting was," Hinata sighed as she worked through the piles of documents in the store room. The room smelled of dust and the shelves were covered in filth; clearly no one had been in here for a long time.

Sayako had said that it was necessary for her to manually go through the finances for the clan for the last 20 years.

And thus Hinata found herself with the envious task of going through years and years of figures. She was not sure but she believed her own ability was mocking her, as half an hour in she gained the accounting skill which was already level 10 by now.

On the plus side, every other level granted her a point of intelligence so it was a fair trade-off. Her sanity slowly eroded away by monotony for a boost in smarts; yep completely fair.

The worst part about it was Kurenai had been working Team 8 to the bone for the last three weeks, keeping them well past the time when training would normally end for the day.

When Kiba questioned why she was being such a task master, Kurenai merely pointed out that he was the one who wanted to take a C rank mission.

Between training with her team and Sayako monopolising her weekends she had very little time for training, and certainly no time for quests. What little free time she did have was eaten up by training with Naruto, something that to her delight had turned into a weekly event.

On the topic of Naruto, she was currently trying to find any information she could to help her discover why her clan was paying for his accommodation.

She had discovered that they were not paying for any other orphans, just him. Clearly this was personal to some degree, and she could not see this slipping past her father for so many years unnoticed.

Finishing with the box she was working through, Hinata bent down to pick it up so that she could put it back on the shelf.

Frustratingly, the filing system in here was less than adequate. Finance records were near records of Genin graduation documents, which were in turn near building plans.

Clearly, someone had just dumped things where they pleased rather than taking the time to put them away properly.

And of course this box needed to go back on the top shelf.

Slowly and steadily, Hinata climbed up onto a chair to give her some extra height as she stretched to position the box back on the shelf. As she stretched, her arm brushed some papers from the shelf that wafted down to the floor.

"Nearly got it.," She strained as she pushed the box further along with the tips of her fingers. "Phew, for a moment I thought I might have fallen."

As she climbed back down, her foot landed on one of the loose bits of paper lying on the floor. The lack of friction caused her to lose her footing and to stumble forward slightly, knocking a file from the shelf onto the floor.

"So much for dexterity," Hinata mumbled to herself.

Reaching to pick up the file from the floor, Hinata's eye was drawn to a sheet that had separated from the group.

Picking it up, Hinata noticed that it was actually a photograph depicting three young Genin.

In the photo there was a boy with long brown hair and milky white eyes that clearly identified him as a Hyuga. The boy appeared to be glaring daggers at a black haired girl on the other side of a red haired girl in between them.

The black haired girl with the onyx eyes was doing her best to glare back at the boy but Hinata noticed part of her lip seemed to be quirked up in amusement.

The boy and the girl were both held in a head lock by the girl in the centre with the long red hair as she smiled mischievously at the camera.

Hinata could not help but chuckle at the sight. The red head seemed like the type to sweep everyone up in her own pace, evident by the way she was manhandling the other two Genin.

Looking at the bottom corner of the photo, Hinata's brows rose into her hairline as she read.

Hyuga Hiashi, Uzumaki Kushina, Uchiha Mikoto Team 8.

"Tou-san?"

This was clearly her father's Genin team. Her father who was also a member of team 8.

Hinata felt a pang of longing in her chest; she finally had something in common with her father.

The name of the girl in the centre also did not escape her notice. "Uzumaki Kushina," Hinata whispered, as if she was testing the sound of the name on her lips.

Kushina had a heart-shaped face that still had vestiges of baby fat clinging to her features, giving her an adorable look. But most prominently, she had cerulean blue eyes and a mischievous grin that Hinata could never mistake.

"Naruto-kun," she gasped in realization.

This woman - she must have been his mother. If the name was not enough, the sheer physical characteristics were too striking to be ignored.

"Tou-san was on a team with Naruto's Kaa-san. That must be why the clan is paying for his accommodation," Hinata suddenly realised.

 **Quest Completed**

 **A HOME FOR THE HOMELESS**

 **OBJECTIVE: discover why the Hyuga clan is paying the cost of Naruto's living.**

 **REWARD: 300 EXP**

Well that confirmed it; her bloodline reacted to her conclusion so she must be on the right path.

"But then who is Naruto's Tou-san?" she wondered.

 **NEW QUEST ALERT**

 **FAMILY TIES**

 **OBJECTIVE: Discover and find proof of the identity of Naruto's father**

 **Reward: 4000 exp, 1 Perk point**

 **Y/N**

The first thing Hinata noticed was that this quest gave a significantly larger reward than for finding out the identity of Naruto's mother; this meant it must have been a much more closely guarded secret.

"Well, at least I have a lead to begin with. Uzumaki Kushina who were you?"

* * *

For the next few days, Hinata found herself in a pattern of sorts: train with her team practicing group tactics and the tree walking exercise, then come back to the compound and search the storage room.

Due to the room's disorganised nature, it was hard to find what she needed, not that she knew what to look for anyway.

One thing of interest that she did find was an old photo of her father, his face flushed red in embarrassment as he stood next to a woman a few years his senior. The woman had deep blue hair, almost to the point of it looking black, and bright green eyes. She wore a Chunin flak jacket and had her hand on her father's head, ruffling his hair like one would do to a younger sibling.

"Kaa-san," Hinata said with a sharp intake of breath. The woman looked young, younger than she had ever seen her, but there was no doubt in her mind that this woman was her Kaa-san.

Hinata was about to put the box that she gained the photo from away when she noticed something out of the corner of her eyes.

The box had several sheets of music and song lyrics scattered at its base. Hinata eagerly grabbed the sheets as her eyes roamed over them, eager to devour this new information.

Her mother had died when she was quite young. Hanabi had only been a few years old at the time and as a result only had a few memories.

Hinata could still remember her mother clearly. She was a vivacious woman full of life and cheer. She could clearly remember her mother's touch on her face as she told her how proud she was of her little girl, or the sounds she made when Hinata made her laugh.

Oddly, Hinata could never remember her mother singing. She guessed it must have been a hobby she did not like to publicise. Hinata decided then and there that she would learn to perform these songs in order to give another connection to her mother.

Whether she could sing or not, well, she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

Hinata decided that there was little else to find on Uzumaki Kushina here so she took her most recent finds and left.

She was staring so intently at the photograph that she did not even notice when she collided headlong with another person in the hallway.

Snapping back to attention, Hinata quickly stammered out an apology.

"What did I tell you about stuttering, Hinata-sama?" came the crisp voice from above her.

"Sayako-san, I apologise for not looking where I was going," she said as she quickly tried to retrieve her picture from the floor.

"What is this?" the elder woman said as she quickly grasped the photo before Hinata could.

Sayako then proceeded to stare at Hinata, causing the younger girl to fidget under her gaze. Eventually she let out a sigh and took pity on the girl.

"You know your father used to be terribly shy when he was around your age," Sayako said, immediately gaining Hinata's attention.

"He was?" Hinata questioned, as her father being shy was the furthest thing possible from her image of the man.

Seeing Hinata's reaction, a small smile crept up on Sayako's face.

"Indeed, the boy could barely string two words together when faced with a woman. He would just clam up and make an absolute fool of himself," Sayako explained, causing Hinata to giggle.

"He had the biggest crush on your mother for years; he used to follow her around like a lost puppy. And of course to her he was like a kid brother for the longest time."

Hinata could only stare with her mouth open at the revelation.

"Be careful or you might start to catch flies in there," Sayako quipped causing Hinata to quickly shut her mouth.

Sayako raised her hand to her mouth to obscure an unladylike snort that escaped her lips. "I am often amazed at how like your father you are, Hinata-sama."

Hearing this caused Hinata to deflate somewhat, which the older woman picked up on. "You know your father was not always so stern. He used to be a quiet boy with a flair for art. Leading a clan made him harder than he used to be and losing your mother... please try to understand it was a difficult time for him."

Hinata had wondered for years what made her father change. It did not happen all at once, but gone were the smiles and gone was the laughter in their home. What she really needed was her father back.

Looking down at the floor, Hinata did not mean to let it slip out, and she was not even sure if the other woman heard. "It was a difficult time for me too."

She had not even realised it, but subconsciously she had balled her hands into fists thinking about the loss of her mother. She was surprised when she felt Sayako's hand softly cup her own, gently un-balling her fist.

"I think you should hold on to this," the older woman said as she placed the photograph in her open hand.

"I know it may seem that your father is a harsh man but he truly does love you. Unfortunately, he has let his own insecurities and doubts project upon you," Sayako said as she ran her hand through Hinata's hair.

Nodding her head in affirmation, Hinata could only hope that was true. She was slowly changing for the better and she hoped that soon she could make her father say he was proud of her.

"You know, in Konoha we have an old saying, 'Families are like branches on a tree, we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one.' No matter how far apart we grow in our lives, we all share the same root. All you have to do is travel back along that branch and your family will be there. I know at times you may feel alone, but that's the great thing about family; you never are."

* * *

"Gah, just one more step!" yelled Kiba as he furiously tried to reach the top of the tree.

Sweat was pouring down his face and it looked as if he was about to fall the 40 feet he had climbed down to the floor below. However, with a shout of determination, he managed to take that final step and make it to the top branch.

"Whoooo! I did it!" Kiba shouted from the tree canopy.

Hinata had been watching the whole time, keeping an eye out for Kiba's chakra network as he regulated its output.

Kiba was the last person to make it too the top of the tree, but for a while she thought that she would definitely be the last despite her impressive chakra control.

* * *

"Okay, team, today I am going to be teaching you a new chakra control exercise," Kurenai said.

"Yay, more chakra control," Kiba said sarcastically, only to be silenced by a look from Kurenai.

"As I was saying," she said with another pointed look at Kiba, "today we are going to learn a new chakra control exercise, specifically, tree walking."

"Now who can tell me what this is?" she asked the Genin.

"Tree walking is an exercise I have seen many clan members utilise to allow them to scale many vertical surfaces with ease," Shino said.

"You what now?" Kiba said with a confused look on his face.

"It lets you walk up walls, Kiba-kun" Hinata said.

"Oh, well he could have just said that. Thanks, Hinata-chan" Kiba replied.

"Now some teachers may just have you run aimlessly at a tree until you got it down. Personally, I think that's a poor method of teaching. I would rather you got a grasp on the theory before you tried to put it into practice. After all, you would not go out and try a dangerous Jutsu without preparing first. Why should this be any different?"

Even the hot-headed Kiba had to agree with this. While reading was not his favourite thing, he knew a lot of his clan Jutsus carried steep penalties if you messed them up, so prep was always a good thing.

With that settled, Kurenai handed each Genin a scroll to read and told them that they should spend some time with it before attempting the technique.

Deciding to get some peace and quiet, Hinata moved off to a corner of the training field. Secretly, she was glad they had gotten a scroll, as it meant she could learn the technique instantly rather than having to practice it.

As she sat down, she opened the scroll.

 **Would you like to learn the Tree Walking Skill?**

 **Y/N**

Hitting yes, Hinata prepared herself for the influx of knowledge when another message popped up.

 **Unable to learn skill, requires Leaf sticking max.**

This was an issue. At present her leaf sticking was not at max level; did that mean she was completely incapable of learning the skill? Was this the downside of her ability?

* * *

Thinking back on that revelation, Hinata was glad she had been able to compensate the way she had. It turned out that she could still learn the technique the old fashioned way but it had a 75% penalty to its growth rate until she met the requirements.

This made her a bit sad as, even if she found someone to teach her an incredibly rare Jutsu, if she did not meet its requirements, it would be hard to learn. Then again, it made sense. Walk before you can run.

As expected, progress with tree walking had been slow going. Even Kiba had been more developed at it then she had. Well, at least until she mastered Leaf sticking.

She had sunk countless hours of her time, pretty much any spare moment when she was not researching Uzumaki Kushina, into grinding the skill. In the end, Leaf sticking had maxed out at level 32 giving her an additional 12 points of wisdom and a 20% chakra reduction.

The tree walking exercise, on the other hand, was actually much easier to accomplish even though it was supposed to be a more advanced technique. It maxed out at level 10 and gave 5 additional points in wisdom and a 10% chakra reduction.

When Hinata questioned Kurenai on this, her teacher explained that even though they were called intermediate exercises and should in theory have a larger effect than the beginner ones, they did less to actually develop control like leaf sticking did and were more about finesse. Apparently at this point the exercises fine tuned their abilities rather than teaching them outright, which was why the effect was lessened.

The intermediate exercises were to get them to use their existing skills in new ways and thus did little to improve control. That was left to the advanced exercises like shape manipulation and nature manipulation, and the very advanced medical control lessons that almost all shinobi did not bother with.

Hinata was brought out of her thoughts when Kurenai called the whole team over now that Kiba had succeeded.

"I know I have been working you all hard lately, but I have to say I am impressed. You all rose to the occasion and I'm proud to say that I am your Sensei," Kurenai praised, getting glowing smiles from her Genin.

"So does this mean…, pleaded Kiba.

"Yes, Kiba, you can all take a C ranked mission," Kurenai said, shaking her head at his enthusiasm.

"Yes! C ranked mission here we come!" yelled Kiba as Akamaru barked loudly from his seat atop his head.

 **CHALLENGE COMPLETED**

 **OBJECTIVE: Pass Kurenai's test**

 **REWARDS: Ability to undertake C ranked missions, 100 reputation with team 8 members**

"Okay, team, I want to meet you at the mission office bright and early at 8 AM for your first C ranked mission. Congratulations. You've earned it." Kurenai smiled.

"Yes, Sensei!" the Genin chorused.

 **Authors Notes**

 **Hi all, new chapter finally. I have to say this one fought me all the way but it's finally done.**

 **Bit of a shorter one this time but the next couple of chapters will be quite beefy as we move into the C ranked mission. So I hope you're all excited as we move onto the Waaaaave Arc! Nah just kidding I'm not going to be doing Wave so I apologise to any who may have been looking forward to that but you can always go and read every other naruto story on this site to see an alternate Wave arc.**

 **Once again a big thanks to Winter Alley for the beta work on this chapter.**

 **Now I have had a couple of people ask how Hinata has not spotted any of the root agents with her Byakugan. To answer that I refer you to the last two paragraphs of chapter 5.**

 **Unfortunately I have not been able to respond to a lot of the questions as it's been pretty manic but do know I read all of my reviews and they make my day when they come in.**

 **On another note holy crap almost 1000 Follows and 1 fave away from 700. The support for this story has been immense so thank you all so much. Though if you enjoy the story and by the fact your reading an author's note on chapter 9 you must please spend 20 seconds to leave a review once your done it means the world.**


	10. Chapter 10

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

Today was finally the day; the day Team 8 would accept their first C ranked mission. The three Genin of Team 8 stood in rapt attention as their sensei accepted the mission scroll from the desk Chunin.

All three of them had grown in leaps and bounds from their time at the academy, and the extra training from the last couple of weeks had helped as well.

Discreetly casting her gaze over her teammates allowed Hinata a glimpse of their stats.

 **Name: Inuzuka Kiba**

 **Title: Genin**

 **Level: 13**

 **HP: 400/400**

 **CP: 210/210**

 **Strength: 37**

 **Dexterity: 28**

 **Agility: 28**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 7**

 **Wisdom: 9**

 **Charisma: 7**

 **Name: Akamaru**

 **Level: 8**

 **HP: 260/260**

 **CP: 150/150**

 **Strength: 17**

 **Dexterity: 20**

 **Agility: 19**

 **Vitality: 15**

 **Intelligence: 4**

 **Wisdom: 4**

 **Charisma: 3**

Since his loss to her, Kiba had become much more diligent in his training. Kurenai's training combined with the harsh physical training he received from his mother had seen a rise in his stats, and if he were to be believed, the two knew Jutsus he learned had added to his arsenal.

 **Name: Aburame Shino**

 **Title: Genin**

 **Level: 13**

 **HP: 330/330**

 **CP: 400/400 (100/400)**

 **Strength: 10**

 **Dexterity: 11**

 **Agility: 9**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 26**

 **Wisdom: 22**

 **Charisma: 1**

Shino, on the other hand, may not have gained as many stat points as Kiba, but he too added some new Jutsus to his arsenal. On the plus side, her observe had levelled to the point where she could distinguish how much useable Chakra Shino had when compared to the portion that was reserved for his hive.

Hinata, while not as high a level as her team mates, was pleased with her progress as well.

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 11 Exp to next level 1050/2388**

 **HP: 400/400**

 **CP: 450/450**

 **Strength: 19 (10)**

 **Dexterity: 34 (1.36) (10)**

 **Agility: 21 (0.84) (10)**

 **Vitality: 20 (10)**

 **Intelligence: 23 (10)**

 **Wisdom: 39 (1.56) (10)**

 **Charisma: 5**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 24**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 2090**

Over the course of their training she had managed to hit level 11, and was a good portion of the way to level 12. On the whole she felt more confident in her abilities; however since the only other person from her graduating class she had contact with was Naruto she was unsure of how well she stacked up.

As she continued to mull these facts over Kurenai had come back with the mission.

"Okay Team 8, our mission is going to take us outside of the village for an extended period of time, so after this briefing you will have one hour to prepare your supplies and meet me by the main gate," she said.

An excited Kiba could barely contain his enthusiasm as he asked "Where are we going sensei?"

"We will be travelling to the southernmost tip of the land of fire; a journey which I expect will take us around three days. Once we get there we will rendezvous with the border guard at the Cha no Kuni (Land of Tea) trade station," she said.

"Cha no Kuni. What are we travelling there for sensei?" Kiba questioned.

"Over the last few months, several shipments have gone missing that were supposed to travel to Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire). Nothing immensely valuable, mainly medicinal supplies and tea. Cha no Kuni's biggest export is its abundance of medicinal herbs and world quality tea. However, its pride and joy is a flower call Chronos tears, a plant that only blooms in Cha no Kuni. It has a curious effect of stemming the bleeding of wounds, it's almost said to be able to stop a wound's time in order to get patients transported for treatment," Kurenai elaborated.

"However, our mission is to track these stolen shipments and clear out whoever is responsible. Due to the ranking of this mission it is likely to be bandits but don't get complacent," she scolded.

"Yes Sensei!" the three Genin chorused.

"Okay I'll meet you all at the gate in one hour."

* * *

It was times like these that Hinata realised how useful her inventory was. She was able to carry much more supplies with her than what was in her standard backpack. It was also fortunate that as clan heir she could take her mission supplies from the compound rather than using her own finances.

While she was there, she also retrieved her salve making kit. If what Kurenai sensei said was true then she should be able to procure some useful herbs and purchase some seeds to grow them locally.

As she walked through the village on her way to the main gate, she spotted Iroh sweeping outside his shop humming a jaunty tune.

"Good morning, Iroh-san," she said politely.

Raising his head to see the girl walking over, Iroh gave her a kindly smile "Ah good morning Hinata-chan, what a lovely day we are having."

"I presume you're here for your usual," he said with a knowing grin.

"Ah, not today, Iroh-san. I am due to leave on a mission to Cha no Kuni," she said.

"Hmmm, Cha no Kuni you say. That has been a place I have always wanted to visit, they say the tea there is almost as good as my own. I would love to get a sample of some to have in my shop," he said.

As Iroh was speaking, a white exclamation mark appeared to pop over his head signifying that he had become a quest giver.

"An individual quest, I have not had one of these in a while," Hinata thought.

 **INDIVIDUAL QUEST CREATED**

 **QUEST: Purchase and deliver Iroh's tea order**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Haggle and receive a 10% discount**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Receive a 25% discount**

 **MAIN REWARD: 200 EXP, 200 Reputation with Iroh, 250 RYO**

 **BONUS REWARD: 100 EXP, 50 Reputation with Iroh**

 **BONUS REWARD: 10% Lifetime discount on all goods**

 **Y/N**

Hinata often thought of herself as a very kind and generous person that would have helped out any one in need. The 10% cinnamon bun discount had absolutely nothing to do with her decision.

"If you would like, I could always pick up a delivery for you," she said.

"Oh, I would not want to make any trouble for you,Hinata. It's your first big mission out of the village," he retorted.

"It's no trouble at all. It's the least I can do for the best tea house in the elemental nations, right?" she praised.

 **Reputation with Iroh increased by 10**

"Well, as the finest tea house in the elemental nations, I do have a duty to provide the best products to my clients," he said puffing his chest out in pride. "Oh, what the hell, let me just run inside to get the money."

After a couple of minutes, Iroh came back out and handed her an order slip as well as 5000 RYO. After storing the money away, Hinata said her goodbyes and made her way to the front gate to wait for her team.

Due to the easy her inventory provided in preparing for the mission, she was a bit early. As such, she simply waited by the gate which was, as usual, being guarded by Izumo and Kotetsu.

Thinking back to earlier in respect to having someone to measure up against she decided to observe the two Chunin.

 **Kamizuki Izumo**

 **Title: Eternal Chunin**

 **Level: 30**

 **HP: 800**

 **CP: 700**

 **Strength: 72**

 **Dexterity: 40**

 **Agility: 40**

 **Vitality: 62**

 **Intelligence: 20**

 **Wisdom: 15**

 **Charisma: 15**

 **Hagane Kotetsu**

 **Title: Eternal Chunin**

 **Level: 30**

 **HP: 650**

 **CP: 800**

 **Strength: 35**

 **Dexterity: 50**

 **Agility: 55**

 **Vitality: 40**

 **Intelligence: 20**

 **Wisdom: 10**

 **Charisma: 10**

Both of them appeared to be much stronger than Iruka and Mizuki sensei. Then again Iruka sensei had been stuck behind a desk for years so it's no wonder his stats may have dropped compared to an active Chunin.

 **Observe has increased by 1**

As she was thinking this, she noticed her teammates and Sensei walk over to greet her.

"I take it you're all ready to hit the road since we have a long journey ahead of us," Kurenai said.

 **STORY QUEST CREATED**

 **MY FIRST C RANK**

 **OBJECTIVE: Discover the reason for the disappearing**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: ?**

 **MAIN REWARD: 1500 EXP, 1500 RYO**

 **BONUS REWARD: 1 Perk point**

 **BONUS REWARD: Exalted reputation with Kaori Village**

"We were born ready, Sensei!" exclaimed Kiba.

"Well then, let's move out!"

* * *

For the next three days, Team 8 made its way south towards Cha no Kuni. The continued sprinting had earned Hinata another 8 levels in her running skill, which provided another 4 points of agility.

Kiba and Shino were once more impressed by her seemingly endless stamina; however, Kurenai sensei had been shooting her curious looks every now and then as they travelled.

When they would break to camp at night, Hinata was shocked to find Kiba nose deep in a scroll. Shino was doing the same, but from him it was understandable.

When she questioned them both she was forced to roll her eyes at Kiba's response of learning a 'kick ass' new jutsu. She could only sigh and mutter about boys and their flash jutsu.

Eventually they made it to the trade outpost that was on the boarder of Cha no Kuni.

* * *

"Ah, you must be Team 8," the gentleman that greeted them said.

Standing before Team 8 was a man with shoulder-length grey hair wearing a chunin flak jacket. He had his Konoha hitai ate tied around his waist like a belt, and had a massive great sword strapped to his back.

"I am Suzuki Idate, the captain of this outpost, but you can just call me Idate. I'm not too big on formalities, Jounin-san," Idate said.

"Yuhi Kurenai, but in that case you can call me Kurenai. Idate, I understand that you have been keeping track of the disappearances?"

"Yes, that's correct. It's been going on for the past 6 months, I reckon," he said, his brow scrunched up in thought.

"Six months and only now they requested a mission?" Kurenai questioned.

"Well, the strange thing is only 1 or 2 shipments seem to go missing each month and never at the same time. In the trading business you always allow a margin in your profits for theft so it was not too big a deal, but this last month the thefts have been stepped up a notch; and combined with the uneasy situation in the village then ...," he trailed off.

"Uneasy situation?" Kurenai pressed.

"Huuh," Idate sighed. "For the last couple of months, there has been a series of disappearances. Kids have been up and vanishing. We are up to around 10 missing so far; understandably people are on edge."

"Any leads where we should begin?" Kurenai asked.

Reaching into his pocket, Idate handed them a map with an area crossed out. "That's where the shipment was stolen last week. Though you may want to ask one of the local girls, Kazumi I think her name was; Yamada Kazumi, she often serves as a guide for any tourists who visit the area. A couple of years older than you kids, long black hair should be hard to miss her."

"We appreciate your assistance, Idate. For now I think we will go and investigate," Kurenai replied, saying her farewells as she guided her team outside.

"I take it you were all paying attention in there?" she asked, getting a round of nods from her team.

"Good," Kurenai continued. "This may be a little unorthodox but this seems like the perfect mission for you three. Therefore what I propose is that you all deal with this mission by yourselves. I want you to conduct this investigation from start to finish. Think you can handle it?"

Hinata sent a nervous glance to Kiba and Shino who both looked uneasy at the proposition. Suddenly Hinata did not know what came over her as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat and spoke.

Perhaps it was a desire to impress her sensei, perhaps it was to motivate her team, perhaps it was the result of the few extra points of charisma she had gained; but before she knew what she was doing she felt herself say, "We can handle it, Sensei."

Kiba and Shino took a moment to blink and regain their faculties before a nervous Kiba ground out, "Y-yea, no problem, we can do it."

"Indeed," replied Shino in agreement.

 **Due to taking the lead, your Charisma has increased by 1.**

* * *

"Why did we ever agree to do this again?" complained Kiba as they continued to search the village for Kazumi.

The first thing they noticed when they entered the little village was the sweet smell that perpetually wafted through the air. The aroma, testament to the village's name, was very pleasant.

Kaori Village was a coastal village that sat at the border between Fire and Tea. As such, despite being a village, it was more like a small town with many merchants peddling their goods.

But despite the colourful fields that surrounded the town and the beautiful little houses, there was an air of depression that hung over the village.

So far no one had been very helpful in directing them towards Kazumi; many people looked at them with suspicion and distrust.

Spotting a street vendor that they had not asked yet, Hinata walked up to make an enquiry.

Giving a short bow, Hinata spoke to the elderly gentleman, "Good afternoon sir."

"Well, well, it's rare to find a child with such good manners nowaday. How can I help you, dear?" the old man said with a smile.

"My team and I have been hired to help stop the series of thefts that have been happening recently, and we were hoping that you could point us in the direction of Kazumi, please," she said, giving another bow.

"I don't know if I should. That child has been through a lot lately...," he trailed off.

"Please, we only wanted to ask a few questions and perhaps get her to show us around to help with our search," Hinata pleaded.

The old man seemed to stop for a moment to scrutinise Hinata's face as if looking for any trace of a lie.

"Well, you seem like good kids. On the far side of the village, there is a large apple tree. You should be able to find Kazumi there reading to the local kids at this time of day."

"Thank you very much," Hinata said.

"Yea, just don't make me regret telling you and we're good," he said in a huff.

 **Sincerity is its own reward; due to your kind and convincing nature, Charisma has increased by 1.**

Armed with the information they needed the trio made their way to the far side of the village. Once they arrived they spotted a group of six children huddled round the base of a tree where a girl was reading to them.

The girl had long black hair that flowed freely down to the small of her back and soft brown eyes that shone with kindness and warmth, but Hinata could swear she saw that her expression was tinged with sadness.

She wore a dark blue kimono that hugged her figure closely and a bright red obi that tied around her waist. She had milk-white skin and soft pink lips that gave her a doll-like quality.

From next to her she heard Kiba suck in a deep breath.

"Guys, I think I'm in love," she heard Kiba say as Akamaru gave a small whine, placing his paws in front of his eyes as if the small dog were embarrassed.

Deciding not to interrupt, Team 8 let the girl finish her story.

"And then Kaguya-hime picked the fruit from the Shinju and was bestowed with its incredible power. With that power she travelled from land to land ending disputes and stopping wars until eventually all the lands that the eye could see were part of her kingdom. The people, in their reverence for Kaguya-hime, began to call her Usagi no Megami (rabbit goddess)," she finished.

"Anyway, children that will have to do for today, it appears we have guests," the girl said.

"Ahh man!" complained the kids.

"Uh uh, what did we say about manners?" she scolded.

"Civility costs nothing and buys everything," they all said.

"And are you being very civil to our guests?" she chided.

Turning around to face Team 8, the kids gave a short bow "Were sorry."

Hinata had restrained a giggle at how cute they were.

"No problem, Gakis," Kiba grinned.

"Hey don't call us Gak's! We're six years old!" one of them cried.

"Six and a half!" cried another.

"Yes, you're all very big and strong. Now run along," the girl said.

"Ok, bye, Kazumi-nee!" they all said as they ran off back to the village.

Turning round to face them the now-named Kazumi gave them a small smile. "And how can I help you, Shinobi-san?"

"By letting me take you out for a drink so we can get to know each other bett—ouch! Akamaru, cut it out!" Kiba pleaded as his Ninken latched its jaw around his ankle and began to drag him off.

Shaking his head Shino replied, "Our apologies for our comrade, we have been hired to track down the location of the stolen shipments and to deal with the perpetrators."

As he said this, Hinata noticed a small twitch in Kazumi's brow.

"I see, forgive me, but aren't you all younger than myself? What could you hope to accomplish?" she said.

"Um, we may be young but," Hinata said as she was about to press her fingers together but forced herself to stop at the last moment. "But we are fully qualified Shinobi," she said, meeting Kazumi's gaze.

"I see, but what do you want with me?" Kazumi queried.

"We were informed that you hold a wealth of local knowledge that may be able to assist us in our investigation," Shino said.

"I think you may be overestimating me a bit. I don't know any more than any other person in this town" Kazumi said shifting her gaze downward.

"Please Kazumi-san anything you could tell us would be a big help," Hinata pleaded, making eye contact with the girl.

Kazumi seemed to fidget under Hinata's gaze for a few moments until her shoulders sagged. "Fine. I can tell you a few things and give you a brief tour," she relented.

"Thank you very much, Kazumi-san," Hinata said with relief.

"Yea, yea, just don't get your hopes up."

* * *

"Our village has expanded a great deal in the last few years. Increased orders of our products from Hi no Kuni have meant that we have needed to build larger facilities and bring in a larger outside workforce," Kazumi explained.

"Wow, that explains why it's so busy constantly round here," Kiba said as he gazed around watching people running about all over the place.

"That's right. Because of the quick expansion everyone chips in where they can," Kazumi agreed.

"Is that why you were watching the kids, Kazumi-san?" Hinata asked.

Kazumi stopped for a moment and seemed to be in deep thought as she spoke softly. "That's right, to me all the kids in this village are my family, I do all I can to protect them," she said gripping her forearm tightly.

Sensing the shift in atmosphere. Team 8 allowed the tour to continue as Kazumi diligently explained various other facets of the village. Eventually they arrived in front of several large warehouses.

"And these are the main warehouses where we process the goods for shipment," Kazumi said.

Kazumi had been very knowledgeable about the procedures involved with manufacturing and shipping the products and the Genin now felt that they had a much greater understanding of the process.

During this time Kiba had continued to try his luck with the older girl by praising her intelligence and beauty; which lead to him nursing several bite marks from where Akamaru had gotten tired of his partner hitting on the older girl.

"Um Kazumi-san, what about the Chronus tears?" Hinata asked.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-san, but they are prepared in a separate location as if they are not handled properly they can have adverse side effects," Kazumi stated.

"Such as?" Shino enquired.

Shaking her head, Kazumi replied "Sorry, but I'm not at liberty to say, village secret." Once again Kazumi's hand moved to the sleeve of her kimono and tightly gripped her forearm.

As the girl was preoccupied Hinata sent a pulse of Chakra to her eyes and activated her Byakugan. Her enhanced vision revealed a thin sheen of sweat building up on Kazumi's brow and that underneath her Kimono were several marks littered over her forearm.

"Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut this tour short here, I hope this will help you in some way. Good day Shinobi-san," She said as she bowed before walking away still clutching her arm.

"Did anyone feel like she was hiding stuff?" Kiba said getting nods from both his teammates.

"Good then, it's not just me."

* * *

After the tour, Team 8 returned to the market where they were able to purchase a sample of processed Chronus tears first hand. The flower had been ground into a fine purple powder that seemed to have a faint luminescence about it.

"So how are we going to find out what made Kazumi so cagey about this stuff?" said Kiba.

They had tried to have Kiba and Akamaru track the scent of the flower but in its processed form it lacked a distinct scent.

"I believe I have a solution Kiba-san," Shino said as he opened up his palm to reveal a small insect.

"The Luminescent quality of the powder means it operates somewhere on the electromagnetic spectrum. This insect is adept at tracking such frequencies," Shino relayed calmly as the insect got a feel for the sample.

After a few moments the insect flew off into the air seemingly following an invisible trail.

"Now we follow," Shino said.

After following the insect for a few minutes, Team 8 arrived outside an abandoned building towards the outskirts of the village.

Activating her Byakugan Hinata was able to see inside the building.

"I see five people in the building at the moment; two seem to be guards judging by the swords they carry."

"How are we going to get in?" Kiba asked.

"There appears to be a roof access panel on top of the building," Hinata replied.

Having a plan in place Team 8 snuck around the building to a wall with no windows and proceeded to walk up the sides of the building. Once they reached the top they found the access panel but unfortunately it was locked.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Kiba grinned as he pulled out a bobby pin and got to work.

A few minutes of concentration later and the latch clicked open.

"How did you know how to pick locks Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked.

Rubbing his head sheepishly he replied "Naruto taught me, pulled a few pranks with him back in the day. Now that I think about it he would make a crazy good infiltration Nin; dude can get into anywhere."

Tabling that discussion for a later day, Team 8 swiftly made their way through the building, avoiding the civilian security with ease thanks to a combination of Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's insects.

Eventually they made their way through to a large office that had stacks of paper lying everywhere.

"Everyone see if you can find anything useful," Shino said.

With that task in mind the team set to work rifling through paperwork. Hinata had the added task of searching and keeping lookout with her enhanced vision.

 **Byakugan has increased by 1**

It took around ten minutes but eventually Hinata noticed a floor safe that had been tucked out of view which Kiba proceeded to open with much more difficulty.

"Whoa, take a look at this!" he exclaimed.

Taking the file from him, Hinata began to read.

 _Dr Yamada Ishin- Chronus tear final report_

 _The effects of the Chronus tear flower are definitely something to get excited about; they temporarily increase the blood's clotting factor thre- fold, which can allow even usually fatal wounds to temporarily clot, giving time for treatment._

 _However this does not mean the drug is without its risks. In its raw untreated form the flower is highly addictive and caused feelings of euphoria. We have managed to mostly eliminate that reaction due to our processing procedure by transforming the flower into a powder._

 _However this does not eliminate the problem entirely but in fact creates a new one. If the powdered substance is collected in a high enough concentration, it can actually prove more potent then the raw form of the drug._

 _It is for this reason that we have declared that the true nature of the product remain secret, not even our buyers can know. In its current form the product is perfectly safe for distribution but the potential for misuse is always a fear._

"Yamada?" Hinata murmured.

"Indeed, it appears Kazumi knows more than she is letting on," Shino said.

"You think we should go back and question her?" Kiba said with a sad expression on his face.

"Eventually, but for now I believe we should investigate the site of the theft first. We may yet uncover more pieces of this puzzle."

"You don't think Kazumi-san could be involved, do you, Shino-kun?" asked Hinata.

"That I do not know."

* * *

A couple of hours later found Team 8 trudging through the forests of the Cha no Kuni towards a clearing where the trade convoy had been attacked.

Eventually they reached the clearing only to be greeted by the sight of broken wood and scattered goods everywhere.

"pheeeeew," Kiba whistled "Whoever attacked really did a number on them."

Packages and containers were strewn about the place and markings of conflict littered the ground and surrounding trees.

"Hinata-san, are our surroundings clear?" Shino asked.

Nodding her head in confirmation Hinata prepared to scout the area. "One moment, Shino-kun, **Byakugan**."

Slowly Hinata observed her surroundings in a 360 degree view until she was confident that there was nobody around.

"All clear," she said, getting nods of affirmation from her teammates.

"All right, may as well see what we can find," said Kiba as he wandered off in a different direction.

Walking over to where the main part of the convoy was destroyed, Hinata kneeled down to inspect further.

The wooden frame from the convoy had been smashed to pieces. No, not smashed, the damage was too neat. The wooden surface almost looked like it had been scarred, as smooth gouges had been impressed into the wood; almost like it had been caught in a hurricane.

The gouges became deeper the further they got into the wood until the point where they sheared clean through, splintering the construct.

Hinata ran her hand along the cuts; they did not feel like they had been created by a bladed weapon. They were too smooth for that.

"Futon Jutsu?" Hinata whispered to herself. Unfortunately she had no exposure to those types of techniques up to this point so it was just an educated guess.

As she moved pieces of the wreckage aside, she came upon a sight that almost made her gag. Underneath pieces of the wood was a severed arm, cut off right at the shoulder. The blood around it was dried and flaky, which was consistent with the report that this incident occurred almost a week ago.

Surprisingly though there was no smell; or at least if there was, the smell of tea and medicinal herbs overpowered it.

That was another issue. Most of the merchandise was left here strewn about the ground. What kind of thief fails to steal something?

"I must be missing something," she said.

Moving aside more of the wreckage, she came across several containers that looked as if they had been pried open.

Inside there looked to be some sort of residue lining the lid. As she stuck her hand in side to collect a sample, she felt that it was dry and not wet like she was expecting.

"Purple," she mumbled as she took a closer look at the residue on her fingers.

Due to her Byakugan still being active, she was able to see Kiba and Shino walking over towards her.

"Yo, did you guys find anything?" Kiba asked

"Yes, I did" Hinata said.

"I have also discovered several things," replied Shino.

"Okay, Hinata-chan, why don't you go first," Kiba suggested.

"That's fine," she agreed. "I found that the main convoy had been damaged with several gouge-like markings. The markings themselves felt too smooth to be from a sword, so I think we might be dealing with missing nin and not bandits as we first thought. The marks seem to be from a Futon Jutsu."

"I would agree that we seem to be dealing with missing nin," Shino concurred.

"Yea, me too," nodded Kiba.

"Why, what did you both find?"

Kiba and Shino shared a glance before Kiba shrugged, motioning for Shino to go first.

"I found several bodies, no doubt the convoy's guards that had been... dismembered," Shino said.

"I also found a severed limb, it looked like it had been cut clean off," Hinata added.

"No," Shino denied. "The bodies I found had quite literally been ripped apart," he continued, earning ill expressions from Kiba and Hinata.

"In addition to this, I found several footprints that left very deep indentations in the ground. In conclusion, I believe one of our adversaries to be of a huge stature and possessing immense physical strength."

"I think I can top you there unfortunately," said Kiba shaking his head with worry. "I found two bodies with their skin baked red with blisters and pustules that had popped up everywhere. It looked like someone boiled them alive."

For a few minutes the three Genin remained silent as they took stock of the damage before them, each trying to comprehend the death in their own way.

"I think they were after the Chronus tears," Hinata said. "Out of everything here, a container storing some was the only thing that looked to have been broken into."

"I would agree .I also found several footprints that bore a purple residue, perhaps they stepped in some," Shino said.

"Yea me too," Kiba agreed. "I found a load of purple prints too."

As Hinata digested the information she realised something did not make sense. By the wreckage she only found a small amount of residue in the containers, none on the ground. Having a look around the clearing also revealed that there were no other patches lurking around either.

"If there were no spills, how did the residue get onto their feet?" she thought to herself.

Just as she was about to raise this issue with her teammates, she caught movement at the edge of her visual range.

"We have incoming 300 meters out!" she shouted as she got into a defensive posture.

Due to the strict training they had been through recently, Kiba and Shino immediately got into position as well, ready to receive any potential hostiles.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" said a voice coming from the tree line.

"Looks like a couple of tree huggers to me," said a second voice.

"You're an awful long way from Konoha, leaf gaki," said a third voice.

"Hinata-san," Shino said his voice sounding more strained than usual.

"They're circling us, three of them. They're wearing Kiri headbands with a slash through them, they're missing nin," she confirmed.

"Ah that's no fun, you've got a Hyuga. Come on boys, may as well just come out now, no point trying to scare 'em."

As one of the voices said that, three figures leapt out from the trees, landing in front of Team 8.

The three shinobi were each dressed in identical outfits, black shinobi pants and sandals with a mesh shirt covered by a blue tunic.

The one on the left had dark orange hair that was pulled back into a waist length ponytail; a single tuft of hair was left to flop at the front down her forehead and between her eyes. Every now and then she would let out a puff of air to blow the lose hair to a better position.

The one on the right had metallic grey hair that was cropped short and a slivery goatee that sprouted from his chin.

The one in the centre had no hair at all and his scalp seemed to shine with a recently waxed polish.

"Now, a little bird told us that some little saplings have been poking their noses around where they don't belong," said the girl in a sing-song voice.

"Now, that little bird did the right thing. Who knows what would have happened if our next order got delayed?" continued the grey-haired man.

"Hmmm, that's right. I suppose we better give Kazumi-chan a special treat after this is over," said the bald one.

"Hey, that's bullshit, why would Kazumi do something like that?" Kiba said in outrage.

"Someone's got a crush, someone's got a crush," sang the girl.

"What? Don't tell me you got lured in by sweet little Kazumi who reads to the kids" the bald on said laughing. "Hah, she's the one responsible for our supply of test subjects. Those poor little kids never suspect 'Kazumi-nee' would lead them into a trap," he said as he slapped his knees, bellowing with laughter.

"Hey Baki, I think you broke them. Just look at their faces," the grey-haired one said.

Meanwhile Team 8 continued to stare at the three missing nins with increasing worry displaying on their faces. Was it true? They had their suspicions, but was it that bad?

"Okay kiddies, time's up. You're dealing with three of Kiri's most infamous missing nins. We were an elite Genin kill squad before we had to bolt, hell, if we were in Kiri, I'm sure we would be Chunin by now" Baki said grinning.

Looking at them, they seemed to be a few years older than themselves: sixteen, possibly seventeen.

Before the fighting started, Hinata decided to get a good look at their opponents to see if they could take them or not.

 **Terumi Tsubaki**

 **Title: The Boiling Wave**

 **Level: 16**

 **HP: 490**

 **CP: 275**

 **Strength: 24**

 **Dexterity: 25**

 **Agility: 25**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 30**

 **Wisdom: 30**

 **Charisma: 10**

The boiling wave sounded ominous. Hinata guessed she must have been the one that left those blistered corpses earlier.

 **Konjiki Subaru**

 **Title: The Steel Wall**

 **Level: 16**

 **HP: 600**

 **CP: 120**

 **Strength: 37**

 **Dexterity: 15**

 **Agility: 15**

 **Vitality: 40**

 **Intelligence: 10**

 **Wisdom: 10**

 **Charisma: 10**

This one had impressive vitality and strength; perhaps he had a jutsu to increase his defence going by the title.

 **Ichiro Baki**

 **Title: The Swift Monk**

 **Level: 18**

 **HP: 500**

 **CP: 200**

 **Strength: 35**

 **Dexterity: 30**

 **Agility: 20**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 20**

 **Wisdom: 20**

 **Charisma: 25**

All three of them were strong, but not unstoppable. Together they might be able to do it.

Hinata and Kiba both noticed Shino making a few subtle gestures with his hand, and as one Team 8 leapt backwards to create some distance between themselves and their adversaries.

"Be careful, they seem strong," Hinata warned.

She noticed Kiba and Shino tense beside her as they nodded their heads in confirmation.

"Well, no sense delaying. Let's get this party started!" shouted Baki as the three Kiri Genin dashed towards Team 8 kicking up dust in their wake.

Hinata saw them approach in a triangular formation, they were quite fast. Quickly she shifted her left leg back and planted it firmly to give her a more secure footing; if they wanted to engage a Hyuga in Taijutsu then that was fine by her.

Soon they were upon them. The girl Tsubaki made a dash for Kiba, while Subaru made a play at Shino, leaving the leader Baki for her to deal with.

Wanting to take the initiative, Hinata struck out with a well placed jab, intent on shutting off multiple tenketsu in her opponent's arm. Seeing this, Baki shifted to the side allowing Hinata's arm to pass harmlessly by him before nailing her with a swift blow to the sternum, knocking her back a few paces.

Seizing the opening Baki launched forward to attack once more. Hinata barely managed to steady herself before lashing out with another strike. Seemingly unphased by her resistance, Baki ducked underneath the strike, slipping right inside of Hinata's guard close enough that their faces were only inches apart.

Baki's eyes narrowed and hardened as they peered into Hinata's milky white orbs, as if he were trying to glare her into submission. "What a disappointment, you're too slow. You won't even land a hit on me."

Shocked by his close proximity Hinata channelled chakra to her palms and lashed out, intent on creating some space between them.

" **Juken-Dengen Sutoraiku!"**

Thrusting both arms forward, Hinata was intent on caving in her opponent's chest with the force of the blow - anything to create some distance, as the other Genin's gaze was decidedly unnerving.

At this distance, though, there was no way she could miss. In fact, with the amount of force put into this strike, her opponent would have a hard time getting up.

Just as she was about to make contact, she heard her opponent mutter something before she felt a crushing sensation in her chest as she was lifted up off the ground.

* * *

"Come on dog boy show me what you got" Tsubaki said as she attempted to gouge out Kiba's eyes with the Kusarigama (Sickle and chain) she produced from a pouch at her waist.

Kiba was left on the back foot. Any time he tried to close into Taijutsu distance, his opponent would spin and whip the iron ball on the end of the chain. This created an impassable wall of flailing steel; and if he tried to back off she would flick that iron ball out with her leg or forearm causing it to hurtle right at him.

"Gah, god damn it, enough of this crap!" Kiba yelled in frustration as he backed away only to begin sprinting at his opponent.

"If that's how you want to play it, I'll just crush your defence in one blow" he yelled as he barrelled down on her.

"Dumb mutt" Tsubaki said as she waited for her opponent to get close to her only for her eyes to widen slightly as he leapt from the ground and began to rotate.

"Take this!" He cried as he sprang into the air and continued to build momentum. **"Tsuga!"**

Kiba continued to revolve, building more and more momentum until he was inches away from his opponent, who cursed in irritation before side-stepping the attack.

Kiba felt himself impact something. He heard a ripping sensation followed by a clinking sound as he felt something encircle him bringing his rotations to a halt. (Split sentence)

Kiba found himself crashing to the ground as his momentum was ripped away mid attack, his body was encircled by the silvery chain of his opponents weapon.

"You little shit; you actually managed to rip my clothes!" Tsubaki said with murder in her eyes as she looked down at the gash that Kiba left on the fabric across her chest.

Kiba meanwhile, despite his rather hairy predicament, could not help but let out a few lecherous giggles at his opponent's new attire.

Confused by her opponent's laughing, Tsubaki paid closer attention to her clothes and saw the gash had revealed the black lacy bra that nestled underneath.

With a quick yank of the chain, Kiba was sent hurtling into the air, while another yank sent him careening towards the ground as the chain released him.

With a mighty crash, Kiba impacted the ground as a cloud of dust and debris was thrown up.

As the dust cleared, Tsubaki approached the prone Kiba and kicked him onto his back so that he was facing upwards.

"Get a laugh out of that, did you, gaki? Good, let's see how funny you find it after I do this to your dangly bits," Tsubaki said as she motioned towards a small stick in her hand.

" **Futton: San Yokuso."** (Boil Release: Acid Bath)

From her mouth, a viscous purple fluid shot out and landed on the stick, causing it to hiss and shrivel until it eventually broke down into a sizzling pile of gunk on the floor. Tsubaki then turned to face Kiba with a maniacal grin on her face.

From the floor Kiba let out a whimper and, as Tsubaki approached, began to bark furiously.

"What the-" Tsubaki was saying as instincts honed by several years of combat screamed at her to leap to the side as a whirling Kiba shredded through the space she just occupied.

Picking herself up from the ground, a furious Tsubaki levelled a glare at the two Kibas.

"Damn, that was close, Akamaru, good job on the Jujin Bunshin (Man beast clone)," Kiba praised.

"You little fuck, that could have killed me," she said quietly, her voice brimming with barely contained rage.

Erupting thorough hand seals at a pace that Kiba could not quite follow, Tsubaki dashed his way only to get a sudden burst of speed as steam erupted from the soles of her feet, propelling her forward.

" **Futton: Funsuiken."** (Boil Release: Erupting Propulsion Fist)

As she closed the distance, she jumped into the air. As she reached the peak of her jump, several other powerful jets of steam exploded from her body. The force of this propelled her to the ground where she punched it, sending large fragments of rock and dirt flying Kiba and Akamaru's way which sent them crashing into the distance landing in a slump.

* * *

Shino was aware that two of their opponents had engaged his teammates, and was carefully watching the last of the three.

His opponent dashed forwards in order to engage him head on which in turn caused Shino to turn and run towards the tree line.

His opponent was slowly gaining on him but did not appear to be too fast as Shino was able to make it halfway up the nearest tree before his opponent reached him.

As he ran up the tree, he allowed a steady stream of insects to fall and coat some of the bark.

"Can't run forever," Subaru said as he followed Shino up the tree only for a lance of insects to spring up from the wood aiming for his face.

Subaru was able to stop just in time for the insectoid weapon to only leave a small cut underneath his eye.

" **Mushi Yari."** (Insect spear)

"You're tricky, I'll give you that," Subaru said as he leapt from the tree.

Shino, not one to waste time, leapt from the tree he was stationed in to one further away and watched as he summoned his insects around him.

"Unlike the others, I'm not going to play around with you" Subaru said as he spread his arms out wide.

From his position in the tree Shino though he saw Subaru's skin become shiny, almost metallic in appearance, before he suddenly swung his arms closed.

" **Koton: Shin no Katto."** (Steel Release: True Cut)

As his arms were brought back together, the air around him seemed to displace somewhat before an eerie silence seemed to engulf the area, even the sounds of the other battles seemed muted.

"Did his technique have no effect?" Shino mused to himself.

"You know what the sad thing is?" Subaru said as he sucked in a few laboured breaths after his exertion, "It;s that you kids never stood a chance."

As he proclaimed this Shino felt his weight shift and he lost balance. Confused and agitated he looked around for a better foothold and what he saw caused him to gasp in shock.

All of the surrounding trees began to topple like dominoes in a 30 meter radius of him, including the one he was stationed in. What was strange was that each tree was cut in multiple places rather than just one.

Shino leapt from the tree in order to make some space for himself and to dodge any debris, however this turned out to be a mistake as once he was in the air he was a massive target for his opponent.

Leaping up into the air, Subaru tilted and spun 180° so that his steel-coated leg whipped round towards Shino's face.

" **Koton: Ryusei Nagareboshi."** (Steel Release: Meteor Falling Star)

A sickening crack echoed throughout the clearing as Shino was sent shooting downwards landing in a crash next to the recently prone form of Kiba and Akamaru.

* * *

Hinata did not understand what happened, she was moments away from making contact, then suddenly her world erupted in pain.

" **Jinton: Mueisho"** (Swift Release: Shadowless Flight)

Almost faster than her eyes could track, her opponent once more appeared in front of her airborne form and kicked her viciously in the ribs sending her skyward.

" **Jinton: Mueisho"**

Suddenly her opponent was above her and smashed her hard towards the ground.

" **Jinton: Mueisho"**

Hinata felt a sharp pain and crack in her back as pressure was applied there. With her Byakugan still active she could see her opponent was standing beneath her and had caught her with his outstretched fist that was thrust above him.

The force of the blow made Hinata's body contort to the shape of his fist as she just hung limply above him.

With a flick of his wrist, Baki launched her on top of the pile of her defeated teammates.

"Hey, we should end this," a panting Subaru said as he walked over.

"Subaru, you and your piss poor Chakra pool," chided Tsubaki.

"Tsubaki, we are all well aware that you have the most Chakra of all of us. However, I too am exhausted and am in no hurry to fight their Jounin sensei," Baki reasoned.

"Tch, fine!" Tsubaki relented.

Lining up, all three missing nin went through a set of hand seals and aimed at the incapacitated genin.

" **Katon: Endan"** (Fire Release: Flame Bullet)

From each of their mouths, a medium sized gout of flame shot towards Team 8. The missing nin only left after the scent of charred flesh began to waft through the clearing.

* * *

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 11 Exp to next level 1050/2388**

 **HP: 400/400**

 **CP: 450/450**

 **Strength: 19 (10)**

 **Dexterity: 34 (1.36) (10)**

 **Agility: 25 (2) (10)**

 **Vitality: 20 (10)**

 **Intelligence: 23 (10)**

 **Wisdom: 39 (1.56) (10)**

 **Charisma: 7**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 24**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 2090**

* * *

Skills

Acting: 5- The ability to hide ones emotions

Accounting: 10- Mastery of numbers

Cooking: 1- Increases the effectiveness of prepared foods by 5%

Compassion: 1- Increased reputation gains with those friendly and above by 5%

Chakra Flow: 10- Increases Strength by 26% and agility by 26%

Detect Poison: 1- 1% chance to detect poison in a consumed or detected item.

Gamers Body: Max- Grants the User a body that functions like a game. After sleep in a bed restore Hp, Cp and any abnormal status effect.

Genjutsu Mastery: 8- Decrease the chakra cast of Genjutsu by 5%. Increase the difficulty to dispel your Genjutsu by 4%.

Hand seals: 10- Hand seal speed increased by 10%

Instant dungeon creation: 1

Instant dungeon escape: 1

Juken: 7- Passively increase dexterity by 4%. Passively increases Wisdom by 4%.

Leaf sticking: Max- reduce chakra costs of all techniques by 20%

Observe: 25

Project killing Intent: 4- A chance to frighten off an enemy with lower Defence against killing intent than your Project Killing Intent.

Running: 16- Passively increases agility by 8%

Stealth: 11- Passively increases stealth by 11%

Tree Walking: Max- reduce chakra costs of all techniques by 10%

Weapons Kunai and Shuriken: 17- Passively increases Kunai and shuriken damage by 17%

* * *

Jutsu

Byakugan: 12- Active: when active increase sight by 26% in clarity and enables user to see 450 metres. Will notice Genjutsu 56% of the time and will see through it 36% of the time.

Cost: 5 CP per Min active

Bunshin: Max- 10 CP per Bunshin

Genjutsu: Shinkiro: 23- Difficulty to detect increased by 12%. Difficulty to dispel increased by 12%

Cost: 25 CP

Henge: Max- 5 CP per Min

Juken- Dengen Sutoraiku: 7- Increase attack damage by 56%

Cost: 15CP

Kawarimi: Max- 10 CP per use

Rankyaku: Usaginoashi: 1- Bounces 3

Cost: 50 CP

Shunshin no Jutsu: 5- Range 90 Meters

Cost: 20CP. 30 CP seal-less

* * *

Reputation

 **Kohoha Shinobi**

Neutral

16/1000

 **Konoha Civilians**

Neutral

0/1000

 **Hyuga Main Family**

Disliked

0/1000

 **Hyuga Branch Family**

Friendly

20/1000

 **Hyuga Hiashi**

Disliked

0/1000

 **Hyuga Hanabi**

Friendly

70/1000

 **Hyuga Neji**

Hated

0/1000

 **Uzumaki Naruto**

Friendly

90/1000

 **Uchiha Sasuke**

Disliked

0/1000

 **Haruno Sakura**

Disliked

970/1000

 **Yamanaka Ino**

Neutral

0/1000

 **Akamichi Chouji**

Neutral

0/1000

 **Nara Shikamaru**

Neutral

0/1000

 **Inuzuka Kiba**

Friendly

150/1000

 **Aburame Shino**

Friendly

150/1000

 **Yuhi Kurenai**

Honoured

350/1000

 **Iroh**

Friendly

11/1000

 **Lu Ten**

Friendly

0/1000

 **Might Gai**

liked

80/1000

 **Rock Lee**

liked

80/1000

* * *

 **Authors Notes**

 **Hi all, another chapter completed also the longest chapter I have ever written. Once more a big thanks to Winter for Beta reading this chapter and getting it into a smoother state.**

 **Well this is the start of the long anticipated C rank mission. I know from reviews and PM's that a lot of people were looking forward to this so i hope it lives up to expectations.**

 **A quick thing to note, for anyone wanting to know exactly what Hinata's new outfit loos like, the hoodie is the same one the MC wears in devil survivor 2 (which you should all play btw since its great).**

 **Also if you want to know when the next chapter is up I do post updates on my profile page so be sure to check there regularly.**

 **I would also like to announce that next chapter we will be seeing the rare spawn for the rabbit dungeon so if anyone would like to submit a last minute entry now is the time and you can do so here:** myforums/BraveVesperia/5709443/. **The full link can also be found on my profile since this site does not like you pasting links in documents.**

 **Last chapter we hit a milestone 1000 Follows which is amazing and I am over the moon about that. Next goal let's see if we can push for 1000 Faves and 500 reviews (Can we do it off this chapter?).**

 **Anyway enough of my rambling and I'll see you next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

Kurenai watched as her team made their way to the location given by the man on the stall, it seemed like Hinata's sincerity was enough for him to divulge the information they needed.

She moved quickly and quietly through the village following her team. Yes she could have used Genjutsu to make tracking them easier, but personally she was against it. Too many Shinobi become completely absorbed in their niche and forget how to operate without it; basic stealth was a key skill. Besides if she couldn't hide from three genin then what kind of sensei would she be. Though admittedly if there was any genin team that could find her it would be her own.

I have to make sure I stay downwind of them, don't want to let Kiba catch my scent.

Yep if any team could it would be team 8; though the all still had lots of room for improvement.

For starters she needed to drill them on being more aware of their surroundings. While she would not expect them to spot her there were several things they could have done to make themselves more secure.

For starters as they were moving to their new destination Hinata should have activated her Byakugan to more easily determine the location of their target, as well as to spot any incoming threats.

Kiba should have positioned himself so that he was located better to catch any scents on the breeze. As it stood there were several buildings and obstructions in the way; not to mention all the spices and herbs that permeated the air.

Shino could have released a small swarm to monitor the area and seek out any sources of chakra that were larger than a civilian.

On the whole she would give them a five out of ten so far.

She saw her team currently speaking to a girl in dark blue kimono; she was a pretty thing and Kiba seemed to be about to salivate on her, well at least until Akamaru intervened.

After a few minutes the girl seemed to reluctantly agree to give her team a tour, none of them noticed her follow silently from the shadows.

* * *

Kurenai tensed slightly as she saw Hinata activate her Byakugan, fortunately the girl was too preoccupied with that other girl Kazumi to notice her; well not that she would have noticed her even if she was paying attention.

Bloodline or not, no genin was going to be able to locate her when she did not want to be found.

She watched her team break off back towards the market while the girl, Kazumi darted off in another direction.

Forming a crossed shaped hand seal a copy of herself poofed into existence. Giving the clone a quick nod it set of after Kazumi.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself Kurenai continued to follow after her team. **Kage Bunshin** (Shadow Clones) were no mean feat; even creating one was stressful with reserves of her size. Sure she could make several more but she could not spam them to hell like a certain blonde could. Then again she was not sure if even the Hokage could spam them to that extent either.

As she made to follow her team she could not help but think about that other girl. Something was not right; her team had picked up on it as well. For now she would keep watch, this was a good opportunity for them to grow she would step in only if it was necessary.

* * *

 **You have awakened HP and CP restored**

Hinata quickly shut her eyes as the glare from the sun caused her some discomfort. Slowly blinking away the spots from her vision Hinata sat up and took in her surroundings.

She was lying on a soft mattress inside of a small room. She could hear the faint humming of the ceiling fan above her and the steady whooshing noise of the rise and fall of her teammate's chests.

It took her a few moments to recall what had happened and how she had gotten here, until suddenly it all came rushing back.

They lost. No lost was too generous a term, they were completely annihilated.

 **-5HP**

Without realising it Hinata's hands gripped the bed sheets so hard that her knuckles turned white, even with the cloth between her palms she squeezed hard enough for her nails to draw blood.

That's right they had been completely helpless as the missing nin were about to execute their final strike.

She remembered looking over to Kiba and Shino and seeing anger on Kiba's face, and resigned acceptance on Shino's.

Raising her knees up to her chest she hid her head between her hands as brick by brick her defences came crashing down as she realised how close to death they had come. She felt her heart clench as hot tears began to stream down her face as she chocked down a sob.

"W-why am I-I..." she attempted to finish as a fresh wave of grief took hold.

She had lost before; her whole life people were telling her she was worthless; so why did this hurt so much?

The emotion felt like a raw nerve, and cries of anguish built up in her throat. If not for her teammates sleeping next to her she would have let it all out.

Her teammates, yes that what made it so much worse. Before whenever she failed it was only herself she let down. This time her teammates almost paid the price because she was weak... too weak to protect anybody.

In the end that's what it always it always came back to. Weak little Hinata, the heiress with no claws, the future clan head with no bite. Always needing to be rescued, never standing on her own two feet.

"What a joke I must seem, deluding myself into thinking I was getting stronger when I can't even protect my friends," she said as she curled up tighter desperately hiding her face within her palms as her shoulders shook from her grief.

"Maybe I should just quit, I just get in the way anyway," she said as her voice was muffled by her hands.

"Cut-cut the crap!" Hinata heard from her side.

Struggling to sit up holding his ribs Kiba swung his legs over the side of his bed and attempted to stand.

"I must concur," said Shino as he too attempted to get up from his bed without aggravating his injuries.

Peeking out from where she was trying to disappear inside of her mattress Hinata saw her teammates standing in front of her. Both were looking a bit worse for wear, with bandages covering their torsos.

"You aint weak Hinata, don't say that about yourself!" Kiba scolded.

"H-how can you say that, if I were stronger this would not have happened. Everyone calls me weak and it's true," she sobbed as she felt the tears begin to well up behind her eyes.

"That is incorrect, they merely mistake your innate kindness for weakness," Shino said and Hinata could feel his eyes boring into hers from behind his glasses. "You are not weak, what you lack is confidence. You need not bear this burden by yourself; we are a team are we not. Or do you think yourself above the rest of us?"

"No of course not!" She cried out.

"Then there's no problem, just as you protect us we protect you. Don't think too hard about it idiot" Kiba said with a grin as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Kiba-san not everyone has the distinct ability to turn off their higher brain functions such as you" Shino said gaining an indignant cry from Kiba as he too placed a hand on her other shoulder.

"We may be weak by ourselves but we are not alone, we are a hive," Shino stated.

"When the going gets tough a pack always sticks together," Kiba said with a grin.

"You all may be weak now but the moment you were placed on my team you became family, and I won't let anyone hurt my family that's my Nindo," a feminine voice said causing the three genin to look towards the door as their Sensei entered the room.

"Sensei!" the three chorused.

"You may have lost this time, but you're all still alive. You need to learn from this experience and grow stronger because of it. I asked around and the next shipment is due in two weeks, in that time I'm going to put you all through hell so you can beat those three," Kurenai explained.

Hinata's eyes were fixed on her sensei as she walked over and placed a hand on both Kiba and Shino's shoulders. "I have the utmost faith in all three of you. I believe without a shadow of a doubt that you can win, you all just need to believe in yourselves as well; can you do it?"

And just like that all the doubts and fears that were suffocating and bringer her down seemed to disappear as if they were washed swiftly downstream allowing her to breach the surface and breath deep.

So this is what it was like to have someone believe in you. They were right, this was not something she could carry by herself; they were a team... no a family, and a family protects each other no matter what.

* * *

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Rhythmic beats continued to ring out from the clearing next to the inn as they had done for the past few hours.

With an almost mechanical precision Hinata ran through the Kata's for the Juken as she continued to strike the tree. Despite not being an outwardly offensive style the bark of the tree was already starting to wear away under her constant assault.

Thud!

Inwardly Hinata could not help but smile. Despite the awful circumstances that lead to this, she could feel herself filled with vigour.

Thud!

This was what she was missing. No longer was she just training for herself or to impress her clan, now she was training to protect those dear to her.

Thud!

 **Juken has increased by 1**

Already her body was responding to her new determination, her mind seemed clearer and her strikes seemed swifter. Just a little bit, it was not much but it was definitely there, progress.

Thud!

It would take Kiba and Shino a few more days before they would be up and about, however thanks to her ability she was already back and combat ready.

She had been avoiding it for a while but she felt it was time to go back to a dungeon. It was one of the tools at her disposal that would allow her to grow the fastest. It was dangerous, but nothing worth having was without risk.

Thud!

She had come to a conclusion; no longer would she say; that's too hard.

Thud!

No longer would she say; I can't do that.

Thud!

If she was fated to be weak and helpless like Neji nii-san said then she would change her fate.

Thud!

That was the kind of person she wanted to be, no longer would she be tied down by despair or uncertainty. If she wanted to break the cage shackling her clan she first needed to break the one shackling her heart.

Crack!

 **By acknowledging your own weakness Charisma has increased by 1**

 **Juken has increased by 1**

Hinata let out a deep breath as she watched the tree topple over. Repeated strikes to the same location had felled the mighty oak in front of her.

She did not have the strength to demolish a tree such as this but repeated strikes, each chipping away at its defence had done remarkable damage. Slowly but surely gaining strength, each blow building upon the last.

Hinata looked at her hands as she pondered this. During her training she kept imagining herself getting faster, her blows getting sharper. Like a knife cutting her enemies.

No that was not right; it was close but not right. Rather than a knife it was like she was hammering in a nail into the same spot. Slowly but surely increasing the pressure with each hit.

Tight. Compact. Accurate.

These were the elements she was trying to explore. She had many new tricks in her arsenal but her future opponent was very fast. She needed something that would debilitate and slow him down enough for her other techniques.

She could feel a fledgling idea forming in her mind.

Walking over to another tree Hinata got into her stance and closed her eyes.

This helped to visualise her chakra network.

She imagined sending her chakra to her hand. Her hand was pointed with her fingertips forward ready to strike. The chakra slowly pooled at her finger tips until they could contain no more.

Once she felt the chakra peak she struck at the tree splitting the bark and wedging her fingers inside by a few centimetres.

Hinata frowned; yes there was more piercing power but not as much as she hopped. She was still missing something. Her attack was not sharp enough, what good was a nail that failed to imbed itself in the target.

As she was thinking this over she felt a hand rest on her shoulder causing her to spin round in fright.

Without thinking she aimed a palm strike behind her only to meet nothing but air as the target moved away.

"Good reaction but next time keep your Byakugan active while you train," Kurenai said to admonish her student.

Realising her error Hinata felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

"Sorry Sensei I guess I got too caught up in my training," she said trying to force her blush down.

"Don't worry Hinata, after spending so much time with a certain blond recently I guess it was too much to hope that you wouldn't pick up any of his habits," Kurenai teased.

And the blush was back, just after she had gotten it under control too.

"Sensei!" Hinata squealed in embarrassment.

Chuckling lightly to herself Kurenai wrapped the girl in a hug. "Sorry Hinata, I couldn't resist."

The two eventually made their way out of the clearing to a small bench nearby where they sat in a companionable silence for a little while.

Staring up at the sky Hinata noticed that there was a full moon tonight. Seeing it brought back memories. Memories of when she would watch the moon with both her parents when she was younger.

Her father used to call her Tsukihime, he said her eyes were the brightest in the clan and shone like the moon. She missed those days.

After a while Kurenai broke the silence.

"Hinata I need to talk to you about some things," Kurenai said suddenly serious.

"What is it sensei?" Hinata said suddenly caught off guard by the change in demeanour.

"Hinata I know you have been hiding something from me and the rest of your team. You have improved at a staggering pace recently and I'm proud, but there have also been things that I can't explain," She posited.

"Your endless stamina and your ability to heal are the two that mostly come to mind," Kurenai said.

"Um, I guess that just heal quicker than most," Hinata said lamely.

Hinata's mind was a blur, had her sensei found out? She was planning on telling them soon but she wanted it to be on her own terms.

"Hinata," Kurenai said in disbelief "Kiba heals quicker than most, you don't have a scratch on you after that fight yesterday," Kurenai said giving the girl time to mull it over.

She didn't want to interrogate her student, but she had to be sure.

It was stupid really, increased stamina and healing, surely it couldn't be that?

But then she had been hanging around with Naruto, the Kyuubi couldn't be influencing her could it?

She was not stupid enough to think the boy was the beast; a scroll does not become a kunai just because you seal one in it. But this kunai did have very sharp edges.

Really she knew she was grasping at straws with that theory, but she didn't like Hinata keeping secrets from her. She knew as a Jounin Sensei that she was supposed to be impartial, but the girl was like a little sister to her and she worried.

"Hinata, I'm not asking as your Jounin sensei. I'm asking as your Nee-chan, please tell me what's going on with you?"

Staring at her sensei Hinata was faced with a choice. She was not where she wanted to be, not yet. She wanted to be able to stand on her own two feet, under her own power. She wanted to show the world that Hyuga Hinata was strong.

She knew it was foolish, but wasn't everyone allowed their secrets?

Did she really have to give up hers?

* * *

 **Authors Note**

 **Hi all, sorry for the short chapter this time round but I have had practically no free time recently. I am currently incredibly busy with work at the moment since this is a busy time of year at my new company. Also I am off on Holiday to Japan in a few days for a couple of weeks so I have had to make sure stuff was in place before I left.**

 **Originally I wanted to finish the C rank this chapter but it was not feasible. This chapter has also not been beta read as I wanted to get it out before I went away so apologies if it is not polished. I will upload Winter Alley's Beta version when I get back. Please PM me if you notice any glaring faults and I will edit when I get back.**

 **I know in a lot of gamer stories the Jounin Sensei is often oblivious to the Gamers abilities but I think that's a bit unrealistic. I give Kurenai too much credit to not have noticed something is up.**

 **I obviously know if she is going to spill the beans or not but I'm curious to hear your thoughts. do you think she will tell? Or do you think she will keep it to herself for a bit longer?**

 **Let me know what you guys thought** **of this chapter, The next one will be sometime in October. Honestly I am likely to be very busy until the end of the year but I will try to not let that affect my update schedule. I am also planning to release the next chapter of Fate/Another sometime in October. If you have not checked out my first story then give it a shot to fill the void before the next chapter of this one.**

 **Once again thanks for reading and I will see you all next time.**


	12. Chapter 12

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

"Hinata, I'm not asking as your Jounin sensei. I'm asking as your nee-chan; please tell me what's going on with you?"

Staring at her sensei Hinata was faced with a choice. She was not where she wanted to be, not yet. She wanted to be able to stand on her own two feet, under her own power. She wanted to show the world that Hyuga Hinata was strong.

She knew it was foolish, but wasn't everyone allowed their secrets?

Did she really have to give up hers?

* * *

"Onee-chan," the small girl said as she tugged gently on the Chunin's flak jacket.

The other girl with dark shoulder length hair and piercing red eyes turned to look at her young charge.

"Yes imouto?" Yuhi Kurenai said, smiling down at the younger girl.

Hyuga Hinata, her self-proclaimed little sister. The heiress to one of the most powerful; and influential clans in Konoha.

When she first received this mission over a year ago in the wake of the Uchiha massacre she thought that it was essentially the death sentence to her career. Both members of her Genin team had already surpassed her in rank. Anko had even gotten an apprenticeship with one of the Sannin in addition to making Tokubetsu Jonin.

Secretly she always envied her friend. Not only did she graduate early but she soon quickly got promoted.

For a while she was bitter about the experience but she eventually learnt to be proud of her friend.

And that lead to this situation, a once promising Chunin put on babysitting duty. She thought this mission would be a drag, but what she didn't count on was forming such a strong bond with little Hinata.

That sort of behaviour, getting emotionally attached is frowned upon during missions. Well those people had never seen the girls puppy dog eyes no jutsu, the thing should be an S rank kinjutsu.

Turning to look at her charge she noticed that the girl had a set of knitting needles and a large spool or red yarn.

"Ok Hinata, ill bite. What's with all the knitting supplies?" Kurenai asked.

Kurenai watched closely as the young girls face became flushed with red as she mumbled something unintelligible.

"Hinata you need to speak up," Kurenai said.

"Ineedtoknitascarftosaythankyoutonaruto-kun!" Hinata belted out in rapid fire mode.

Sighing softly Kurenai lifted a hand up and softly chopped Hinata on the forehead, eliciting an eep from the small girl.

"Now let's try this again shall we," Kurenai prodded while smiling at Hinata's shyness.

Eventually she managed to get the story of how the village's resident Jinchuriki managed to save Hinata from a gang of bullies. However in the process his scarf had gotten destroyed.

"So let me guess, you want me to show you how to knit a scarf right?" Kurenai asked receiving a furious nod from Hinata.

"Well you came to the right place. I'll have you know that by the time we are done you will have the best scarf in the whole country. Now bow before your Onee-sama's greatness," Kurenai preened.

"Wow Kurenai onee-sama is so cool!" Hinata said growing steadily more excited.

Crap why did I start mouthing off, I have no clue how to knit. I don't know how but I blame your influence for this Anko! Kurenai thought while trying to keep her true feeling from showing.

"But onee-sama has to promise not to tell anyone, I need it to be a surprise," Hinata said with all the authority a small child could muster.

"Yes, yes I won't tell anyone," Kurenai chuckled.

"You promise," said Hinata.

"I promise, after all I wouldn't lie to my precious little imouto right."

* * *

But then Kurenai sensei, no Kurenai nee-chan had never betrayed her trust before. Whenever she needed her, Kurenai was always there to help. On the good days and the bad, her nee-chan was a constant in her life.

Perhaps I should tell her. But I wanted to do it on my terms when I was stronger, Hinata thought.

* * *

"You know I have to say I'm very pleased with all three of your progress. I know I have been pushing you hard lately but I refuse to let you go on a C rank with just the three academy jutsu under your belts. I mean you would need to be incredibly irresponsible to do something like that," Kurenai said.

"That being said I think you all are well on your way to being ready," she smiled.

"Well we are the strongest!" Kiba said from his prone position on the ground as he gulped in air.

"If this is what being the strongest looks like Kiba-san then I fear for the future of Konohagakure," deadpanned Shino as he too recovered from the gruelling session.

"Arf," whined Akamaru in agreement.

"Che, traitorous ninken," Kiba growled.

Taking a moment to dust herself off as Kiba gave her a withering stare for getting up so easily; Hinata made her way to her sensei.

"Do you really think we have gotten stronger?" Hinata asked.

Kurenai gazed at her student straight in the eye before speaking. "Without a doubt, I know in the academy you all may have trailed behind in different manners. Hinata with your confidence, Shino with your lacking chakra reserves and Kiba with theory work," she said gazing at each of them in turn.

"But the past is just that; the past. Who you were then whether it is dead last, rookie of the year or somewhere in between; none of that matters anymore. What matters is who you are today," Kurenai said giving them a bright smile. "And that my cute little Genin, is team 8. The best squad to come out of the academy. A squad I am proud and privileged to teach."

All three Genin could only stare at their sensei in awe as they broke out into small grins.

"But if you think that means I'm going to go easy on you then your sorely mistaken," Kurenai said as an evil grin started to spread across her face.

"I heard from Anko that bastard Kakashi got drunk and had the stones to say that his squad was the best out of the academy as they were an assault squad. We will show him who should go back to manning the border posts," Kurenai said as a black miasma started to leak out of her skin.

"Little girls shouldn't play at being Jounin sensei. Ha, ha, ha well let's see who is laughing Hatake," Kurenai cackled as the miasma started to reshape itself into a Hannya mask.

"K-kai," Kiba stuttered as his eyes darted around looking for an escape route.

"Kai, Kai, Kai. Why won't it work this is most illogical," said Shino as a thin sheen of sweat started to drip down his brow.

"Oh no its back, happy thoughts, happy thoughts," Hinata muttered to herself like a mantra.

"Now team who is ready to continue training," Kurenai said with a sweet smile that promised nothing but pain.

* * *

Happy thoughts, Hinata repeated to herself as she thought back to that day. Despite her sensei's relapse into dark Kurenai, she had been right they had improved.

In reality it was her own fear of being rejected that caused her to keep this a secret from her team. Who in their right mind would believe such an outlandish tale? Not only that but she did not want to come under any scrutiny.

She had already had a kidnap attempt on her once for her bloodline. Who knew what the repercussions would be if it got out what she could really do before she could adequately defend herself.

It was a gamble, but ultimately it was one she had to take. She couldn't afford to become one of those shinobi who could not trust anyone.

Looking up at her nee-chan Hinata steeled her resolve.

"Nee-chan, I need you to promise me that what we talk about stays between us until I'm ready," Hinata said raising her hand as it looked like Kurenai was about to interrupt. "No reports, nothing. I plan to tell the rest of the team and Hokage-sama eventually but for now I want to keep it between us. Please Kurenai nee-chan?"

Hinata waited for what felt like an eternity as Kurenai mulled her request over before Kurenai eventually let out a long sigh.

"Hinata, depending on what your secret is your asking a lot of me, you know that right?" Kurenai questioned.

"I know nee-chan, but I feel like this is something I need to do. Please can you trust me?" Hinata pleaded.

Kurenai then proceeded to rub the bridge of her nose to stave off the impending headache her actions would no doubt cause. "Okay Hinata, I promise. But your explanation better be good."

Nodding her head Hinata tried to prepare how to convey what she needed, however before she noticed her mouth was moving of its own volition.

"I have a Kekkei Genkai!" she blurted out, receiving a deadpan look from Kurenai.

"I mean I have a Kekkai Genkai that's different from the Byakugan," she explained.

Hinata began fidgeting in place once she noticed her sensei's eyes narrow slightly indicating she had her full attention.

"My bloodline allows me to affect the fabric of reality in beneficial ways. This can range from advanced healing to being able to quickly learn techniques or observe information about the target. It was this bloodline mutation that allowed me to activate my Byakugan," she explained.

"Define quickly learn techniques," Kurenai asked.

"Instantly, as long as it's within my capability to learn and that I have the required stats," Hinata continued.

"Stats?" Kurenai said in disbelief.

Once more fidgeting in place Hinata prepared to say the most unbelievable part. "Yes the bloodline functions like a video game. I have stat points that I can assign and even levels" she trailed off seeing Kurenai's disbelieving look.

"And let me guess you go on quests and have an inventory too right?" Kurenai said with disbelief.

Hinata began to once more fidget as her sensei's eyes began to widen once more.

"Hinata, no. You can't expect me to believe tha-"

"Inventory," Hinata said as she reached in to pull out a book from inside.

"What, how did you do that. Kai!" Kurenai said trying to dispel the illusion.

"It's not an illusion sensei. Do you really think I would be capable of putting you in one without you noticing," Hinata said as she held the book out for her sensei to take.

Hesitantly taking the book, Kurenai quickly scrutinised it.

"This is the jutsu I gave you the other day, I was planning to train you in this for your upcoming fight," Kurenai exclaimed.

"That's right," Hinata said as she took the book back.

Kurenai's eyes then proceeded to widen even further, which was a recurring theme this night as the book broke down into small motes of light and were absorbed into Hinata's body.

"What was that," Kurenai asked with fascination laden in her voice.

"I learnt the Jutsu," Hinata explained.

"Just like that?" Kurenai quireied.

"Just like that. Do you want me to show you?" Hinata asked as she received a nod from Kurenai.

Going through the hand seals Hinata called out " **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu** " **(Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique).**

All of a sudden Kurenai was assaulted with images as she allowed the Genjutsu to take hold.

"You will never be part of this clan," A harsh male voice spat.

"Your father shamed us, you should consider yourself grateful that we allow you to live," spoke a different female voice.

"After all, your talent was born from the blood that runs through your veins. Without us you would just be another no name shinobi," the second voice continued.

"You have a lot of nerve to think I would allow you to train my daughter, why don't you go back to playing house with the Hyuga brat," the first voice said.

Having had enough of the voices Kurenai allowed herself to break the illusion.

"Se-, sens-, Sensei!" Hinata finally shouted snapping Kurenai back to focus.

"Sorry Hinata, a few unpleasant memories. I'm fine though," She assured the younger girl.

"But I have to say that was incredible, to learn that Jutsu in moments. Not even the Sharringan is that efficient," Kurenai mumbled.

"Your right, news of this bloodline can't get out just yet. I do think Hokage-sama should know though," Kurenai said as she saw Hinata about to protest.

"I know, I promised. Don't worry I'll keep my word," She placated. "But I do think you should tell him around the time of the Chunin exams. By that point ill be able to whip you three into fighting shape."

"I was planning to take a more steady approach to your training but that's no longer an option. We still have some time, but in order to know the best way to train you I'm going to need to know more. I'm serious Hinata you can't leave anything out," Kurenai demanded.

"Yes Sensei!" Hinata said getting a small laugh from Kurenai much to her own confusion.

"Look at us, I said that this would be a conversation between sisters but I ended up switching back to teacher mode," Kurenai chuckled, eliciting a small smile from Hinata.

"I'm glad you chose to trust me with this Hinata, you have no idea how worried I have been recently," Kurenai said as she stroked the younger girl's hair affectionately.

"I'm sorry nee-chan, but I wanted to prove to everyone and myself that I could do this. I'm tired of being left behind, watching everyone's backs as they continue to get further away," Hinata said while unconsciously clenching her fists.

"I never want to feel like I'm not good enough. I want to get strong, for you, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Neji nii-san, Hanabi-chan and Otou-san."

Once more Kurenai sighed as she wrapped an arm round Hinata. "You never had anything to prove, not to me and certainly not to anyone else. But I like this new confidence, if you're going to get strong then why not be the strongest, put everyone who doubted you in their place," Kurenai encouraged.

"Who knows, one day you may be as great as your wonderful Kurenai onee-sama," Kurenai smirked.

Raising a delicate eyebrow Hinata responded "If that's as great as you are at knitting then I think I will have to pass."

Placing her hand on her chest in a mock affronted look Kurenai responded "Well I never, when did my cute little imouto turn into such a cheeky little thing, Kami have I failed as a big sister?"

"You've been spending too much time with Anko-san nee-chan," Hinata deadpanned.

"Yea... I know," Kurenai responded with a final sigh.

 **Reputation increased with Yuhi Kurenai by 200**

* * *

 **Author's notes**

 **Hello all, I just got back from Japan yesterday so I am still majorly jet lagged and I think I caught something on the plane coming back so I'm feeling a bit dodgy. However seeing the great response while I have been away motivated me to write this. Just a short chapter so think of it more like a bonus than a full chapter, chapter 13 will conclude the C rank and will be out sometime next month.**

 **Again still jet lagged (8 Hours time difference) and I did knock this out in one sitting so if you notice many errors please PM me.**

 **I may have taken a few liberties with the timeline of the Uchiha massacre, but I tried to find out a date and there were no concrete time lines. If it turns out that I was wrong just ignore it as creative licence.**

 **On that note I am sad to say that Winter Alley is no longer beta reading anymore so I am currently without a Beta. With that said a big thanks to Winter for all the help so far. If any of my readers are interested then please PM me. My general requirements is someone who is hot on spelling and particularly grammar (grammar Nazis welcome), but I will discuss more in the PM.**

 **I know a lot of you wanted Hinata to keep it a secret, and if it had been any other character then I would agree. However Hinata is so earnest that I feel it would be out of character for her to lie in this situation.**

 **Originally I intended for this chapter to be mostly serious, but like Kurenai I too blame Anko.**

 **Now I have some much needed sleep to catch up on so like always please fave and review.**


	13. Chapter 13

Hinata Hyuga: A Gamers Potential

 **Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, this chapter is my present to you all. I hope everyone stays safe and has a good time. If you feel like giving me a present then please drop me a review and drop a review on any other person's work you read over the Christmas period.**

Hinata strode forward confidently as she gently tilted her head back to avoid the clawed strike aimed at her face. Subtly shifting her weight the furry appendage passed just in front of her nose, near enough that she could smell the sweat and the anxiety the creature gave off.

As the arm passed in front of her, Hinata made use of the opening caused by her opponent over extending and raised a hand up to the creatures elbow joint.

 **Snap**

The creature wailed in pain as it leapt away to create some distance, its right arm now hanging limply by its side.

The creatures ruby eyes seemed to burn with fear and indignation. The creature was clearly outmatched and internally it was warring with instincts that were intrinsic to all beings.

Fight or flight.

Under normal circumstances any intelligent creature would chose flight against an opponent that clearly outclassed them. However this was no ordinary creature.

The creature's powerful purple legs contracted as they stored energy, cracking the ground beneath it.

Hinata simply observed her opponent, she had seen this many times before now. In fact this was her fifth time battling this creature.

It was slightly jarring that the opponent who not long ago made her recoil in shock due to its speed and agility had yet to land a single blow on her.

The creature's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as it released all of the pent up energy it had stored. Exploding from the ground like an explosive tag the creature rushed at Hinata.

Swinging her leg forward with surprising speed, an arc of blue energy erupted forth bouncing across the ground straight into her opponent's path.

Seeing the arc of energy moving towards it, the creature used its powerful legs to stamp the ground. The force of this action was enough to alter the direction of its flight enough to avoid the projectile.

Unfortunately for it this had been all according to Hinata's plan as she had already dashed to meet her opponent along its new trajectory.

Raising her arm to strike Hinata felt the chakra pool in the tips of her fingers. Little by little the chakra became denser, more compact.

1 hit.

Hinata focused her mind on the image of a nail. Slowly but surely getting sharper; ready to pierce her enemy with its rhythmic taps.

2 Hits.

She could feel the pressure building up in her arm as she prepared to unleash the technique. The creature had already had a taste of this move courtesy of the arm that was limply trailing behind it. However Hinata intended this blow to be decisive.

3 Hits.

There, she had held it as long as possible. Lashing out with a furious jab she caught the surprised creature square in the face.

The creature could only gasp in shock as its face indented.

 **Thud**

First the nose became crushed the bone and cartilage sinking into its face, while the skin and surface area remained unblemished. Red ichor freely flowed out from the wound with no end in sight.

 **Thud**

Next was the maxilla and mandibles, they two were crushed as if a second powerful blow had been struck. Once more no surface damage was present.

 **Thud**

Finally the creatures eyes seemed to leak bloody tears as its head was rocketed back, the rest of its body soon following suit.

Hinata continued to watch for any signs of movement before letting out a satisfied sigh at the information her observation skill had determined.

 **Rabbit Deva Level: 18**

 **HP: 0/400**

Due to her training the creatures in this dungeon had ceased to be any real threat. But they did allow her the perfect opportunity to trial her new jutsu.

Due to the fact the dungeon reset upon each visit the inhabitants never retained any of their knowledge. Hinata on the other hand was able to craft strategies to deal with each creature after several instances of trial and error.

The problem with Juken as a fighting style was that it relied very heavily on precision. Being able to strike an opponents tenketsu required not only focus, but speed and accuracy as well. If an opponent was too fast then it became nigh on impossible to strike such small targets with any regularity.

What she needed and had been spending a large amount of time on recently was a way to cripple an opponent that did not require precision. After that had been done they would be easy pickings for her Juken.

The move that she created was definitely a deviation from the standard juken as it created internalised blunt force trauma rather than the more delicate strikes attributed to her usual style.

It was a little known fact that medical chakra scalpels were based off the juken, so it was not far to say that the Juken was a scalpel while the technique Hinata had created was a hammer by comparison.

It was not particularly pretty to look at, but it was effective. In essence she was layering Chakra in her fingertips round after round and then releasing it in a single point of impact creating a blow that hit multiple times simultaneously.

If she could work out how to layer more hits into the blow it should be able to chip its way through any defence, even her own clans Kaiten (Rotation).

As Hinata was gathering up her spoils from this run through the dungeon a shrill cry met her ears.

 **A Rare Spawn has entered the dungeon**

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **A STROKE OF LUCK**

 **OBJECTIVE: Defeat the Elder Jackalope**

 **REWARD: 1000 EXP, 3000 RYO**

 **FAILURE: Defeat must encounter rare spawn again, risk of death.**

 **Y/N**

In the distance Hinata could see a figure bounding towards her. It stood at around 6ft and was humanoid in shape. It had a coat of dark grey fur that lightened into a snowy white as it reached its paws. Its feet and hands were large; a testament to its strength was that the ground indented with each hop it made.

The beast had long muscular arms that had black tribal tattoo's running down their length. It had a sharp angular face with a midsized muzzle on which several whiskers were attached. Adorned on its head was a large pair of silver horns one of which was broken off a quarter of the way up.

The remaining horn curved upwards and round its head half way like a miniature crown. Its greying and thinning coat gave the Jackalope an appearance of wisdom and experience that the Rabbit Deva could not hope to compete with.

Hinata was grateful that Kurenai sensei had spent much of their training helping her grind her observe skill. As a tracking and infiltration team you could never have too much information.

 **Elder Jackalope Level: 22**

 **HP: 250**

 **CP: 550**

 **Strength: 50 (-20)**

 **Dexterity: 52 (-20)**

 **Agility: 49 (-20)**

 **Vitality: 30 (-20)**

 **Intelligence: 29**

 **Wisdom: 16**

 **Charisma: 25**

 **Status**

 **The Horn That Protects The Barrow: Its horn deals 50% extra damage to any creature that has defeated 5 or more creatures in the rabbit dungeon.**

 **Pearls Of Wisdom- Due to its advanced age the Elder Jackalope suffers a 20 point penalty to all physical stats. In return its guile and experience have made it immune to all forms of Genjutsu.**

 **Description**

 **The Elder Jackalope has once more entered the field to defend its home from invaders. This old warrior may no longer be at its peak but what it lacks in strength it makes up for in experience. It tends not to use its hands against opponents it deems unworthy.**

 **Weakness**

 **Due to its advancing age the Elder Jackalope's eyesight is not what it used to be.**

 **EXP Earned: 1200**

 **Drops: ?**

Suddenly the bouncing Jackalope stopped several meters away from Hinata, halting its advance as it crossed its arms behind its back and relaxed its legs, adopting a ready position.

In terms of raw stats Hinata certainly had the advantage especially with the debuffs the Jackalope had. Yet for some reason she felt hesitant to engage it.

During her indecision the Jackalope made no moves to engage her; however its cloudy black eyes continued to watch her every move.

Having had enough of the stalemate Hinata decided to test the waters. Leaping backwards into the air to create more distance Hinata swung her leg forward in a violent kick.

" **Rankyaku: Usaginoashi"** She cried as a blue arc of energy erupted from her foot, rapidly making its way to her opponent like a starved hound that found a tasty morsel.

The blue streak of energy tore up the ground as it bounced from spot to spot in pursuit of its prey, yet all the while the Elder Jackalope seemed unconcerned.

As the energy hit it's forth bounce the elder Jackalope hopped into the air with a small vertical jump, taking it just above the path of the attack. Before Hinata could even move to capitalise on the airborne enemy, the rabbit had once again landed on the ground with its hands folded behind its back.

Hinata could only stare, mouth agape as her opponent so easily deduced the weakness of the technique. While the move could scale objects with frightening ease, at this moment in time it was unable to change directions after the attack had been launched.

Shaking her head in disbelief Hinata decided that a strong offence was the best course of action; as such she dashed forward intent on disabling her foe.

As she approached striking distance with her formidable speed, the Jackalope kicked the ground hard dislodging the earth beneath their feet. This sudden action combined with her speed made Hinata stumble in her advance. Wasting no time Hinata attempted to right herself, only to find a furred foot planted right in the middle of her face which sent her rocketing backwards into a heap.

 **-25 HP**

Quickly picking herself up Hinata wiped a drop of blood that had leaked from her nose as she stared at her opponent in contemplation, her Byakugan eyes blazing.

That's twice it's stopped my attacks, once could be a coincidence twice is a pattern, Hinata thought. I need to play this smart, its eyesight is its weakness let's make use of that.

Picking herself up from the ground Hinata made to dash for the Jackalope, as she neared it she though she saw what looked like a disappointed expression on its face.

With startling speed the Jackalope kicked the ground once more dislodging her footing. However this time Hinata had been expecting it and with a play out of the Jackalopes own book did a small jump to avoid the hazard.

Seeing the Jackalopes eyes widen marginally Hinata whipped her arm round and slung two smoke bombs she had taken out of her inventory moments before right into the Jackalopes torso.

In an instant a thick black smoke spread out into the clearing obscuring everything from view, or at least obscuring everything for those without the benefit of the Byakugan.

Hinata knew that in a clearing of this size the smoke would soon dissipate so she immediately got to work.

Slipping inside the jackalopes guard Hinata unleashed a flurry of palm strikes aimed at closing as many of the tenketsu in the Jackalopes legs and torso as she could.

Her barrage of blows elicited a strangled cry from the beast as it swept its arms out batting Hinata away. Unfortunately for it, not before the damage was done.

Darting away to a safe distance Hinata watched as the smoke cleared, revealing a heavily damaged but still moving Jackalope.

The Jackalopes body was soon shrouded by the blue hue of its chakra as it attempted to force its tenketsu open again. Such an act required a fine degree of chakra control lest you end up rupturing your own chakra coils, and even then it used up the vast majority of your reserves to do so.

 **Elder Jackalope Level: 22**

 **HP: 50/250**

 **CP: 75/550**

The elder Jackalope was in a bad state, it was almost out of HP and Hinata could see tremors run through its legs. It may have opened its Tenketsu but the damage still remained.

Hinata was about to rush in to finish this but the Elder Jackalope did something which gave her pause; it removed its hands from behind its back.

Struggling to move its legs it placed one forward and raised its hands up in a ready position.

Thinking this to be a desperate last stand Hinata charged forward to end the battle sending a combination of palm strikes and thrusts her opponent's way.

It is said that often in battle time can seem to slow in crucial moments providing clarity to often murky events. It is said that the Uchiha's Sharringan often gave the wielder moments of clarity such as this.

For Hinata this was a first, time seemed to slow as she watched the Jackalope bat all of her hits aside before counter attacking with a punch straight to her sternum forcing her back a few feet.

Hinata felt her hand go up to clutch her chest as she coughed due to the force of the blow. The surprise combined with the pain momentarily staggered her, an opportunity most opponents would not pass up on. And yet the Elder Jackalope did not move, or rather it couldn't move as its legs were still inoperable.

Suddenly Hinata gasped as she noticed a pale sphere shimmer around the Jackalope ending at the tips of its fingers. The Jackalope proceeded to move its hands back into a ready position and the sphere seemed to contract and shimmer with it.

She doubted that anyone would notice the sphere without a high sensory ability or the Byakugan, and possibly the Sharringan she added with an afterthought.

But if it was using chakra then...

 **Elder Jackalope Level: 22**

 **HP: 50/250**

 **CP: 63/550**

That's right the longer it kept that technique up the faster its chakra would drain. She could win by simply standing back and doing nothing, that would be the smart thing to do.

Hinata rushed forward and aimed several more palm strikes at her opponent watching as they were blown away once more.

It may be the smart thing, but I'm not sure how happy I would be to win that way. I know its best just to get the job done, but it kind of hurts my pride not to land a hit through that technique. I've been training so hard, I'm not going to let this stop me here, she thought.

Hinata continued her flurry of blows at an even greater pace not allowing her opponent to counter attack.

 **CP: 52/550**

Any other opponent would have grown tired from the continued exertion; she did not have that problem.

Hinata took this moment to observe the look of concentration on the Jackalope's face as it continued to maintain its defence. As Hinata continued to increase the pace of her attacks she noticed the sphere expand, this seemed to allow the Jackalope to react earlier to her attacks. Often it would seem Hinata would strike and it would instinctively move its hand to block without even looking.

This was very different from her clans Kaiten. The Kaiten used up a lot of chakra and left the user vulnerable after its use; this meant it needed to be timed very carefully. However a defensive technique that offered sustained use and did not leave you vulnerable... that was intriguing.

 **CP: 29/550**

The battle continued with the two foes locked in a battle of attrition, Hinata's strikes came fast and furious while the Jackalope had yet to take a blow. The rabbits face was dripping with sweat and was scrunched in concentration as it struggled to maintain the technique for such a prolonged period of time.

The blue sphere had retreated in on itself until it was smaller than it originally started as. Beneath the grey fur its face was becoming red as lactic acid began to build in its muscles from sustained anaerobic activity.

Hinata was impressed, by this point it must have felt like its limbs were lead weights yet it refused to back down.

 **CP: 14/550**

Hinata was aware that its chakra was running out, she didn't want to win in such a pathetic fashion.

As she continued to strike she started building up layers of chakra in her right hand while building up one large mass in her left.

She then activated chakra flow to give her an additional burst of speed as she locked eyes with the Jackalope.

The Jackalopes face was bright red at this point and its eyes were watering, finally it seemed it could last no longer as it took in a massive gulp of air.

This momentary lapse that lasted no more than a fraction of a second was all she needed. Swinging around her chakra coated left fist she struck.

" **Juken-Dengen Sutoraiku** " she cried as she smashed her attack into the Jackalopes defence. The attack was blocked once more; however the more powerful blow blew its arms back leaving it ripe for the finisher.

Bringing her right hand forward she aimed for the centre of its chest.

" **San Ren Kugi Punch" (3 Hit Nail Punch)**

With speed and power that belied her slim frame Hinata slammed her palm into her opponent's chest forcing the tidal wave of chakra forth.

The Jackalope was slammed back as a small indent appeared in its chest.

The beast's eyes were bloodshot at this point and it attempted to swing at Hinata in vengeance. As it did so its body was rocked by another tremor and it was forced back once more, the indent in its chest deepening.

Shock, fear and confusion played upon the Jackalopes face before its body was rocked back one final time as he indent in its chest became deep enough to rest a fist in.

For a moment the Jackalope just stood there with its head faced up to the sky as a defeated growl escaped its lips before crashing forward to the floor.

 **Elder Jackalope Level: 22**

 **HP: 0/250**

 **CP: 1/550**

Soon enough the Jackalopes body was no more and in its place was a small pile of loot.

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **A STROKE OF LUCK**

 **OBJECTIVE: Defeat the Elder Jackalope**

 **REWARD: 1000 EXP, 3000 RYO**

 **You have levelled up.**

 **Hyuga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyuga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 14 Exp to next level 856/4664**

 **HP: 380/440**

 **CP: 300/510**

 **Strength: 23 (10)**

 **Dexterity: 47 (3.76) (10)**

 **Agility: 30 (3) (10)**

 **Vitality: 24 (10)**

 **Intelligence: 26 (10)**

 **Wisdom: 41 (3.28) (10)**

 **Charisma: 8**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 42**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 9090**

Inspecting the loot Hinata found two items. One was the remnant of one of the Jackalope's horns and the other was a rabbit's foot.

 **Jackalope's Horn (Rare Quality)**

 **A powerful crafting material, weapons created from this material deal 10% more damage when the user is protecting their precious people.**

 **Lucky Rabbits Foot (Epic Quality)**

 **A symbol of luck and good faith, using this item may cause something good to happen.**

Hinata picked up the two items and placed them in her inventory. This was a good test run for her abilities, with this win under her belt she felt much more confident about facing those Kiri Nin. The leader baki still worried her, but if she could cripple his speed she knew she could win.

Team 8 had thought up a good strategy to deal with their opponents, the trap was set all they needed to do now was wait for it to be sprung.

* * *

Team 8 was silent as they waited patiently inside of the cargo wagon as it made its way towards the checkpoint. There was an air of apprehension surrounding the Genin as they waited for their opponents to take the bait.

Hinata cast her gaze to her teammates, both of whom had grown more powerful during the two weeks that they had been training. She knew for a fact that both of her friends had at least one new technique under their belt from the training, she only hoped that they were ready.

A sudden jolt brought Hinata back into focus as she felt a sharp pain blossom on her head.

"K-Kiba-kun?" she stuttered from the surprise blow.

"Stop with nervous look on your face, were all going to be fine," he huffed crossing his arms in front of his chest in irritation. "Team 8 aint gonna lose to the same opponent twice, so don't worry so much okay."

"Kiba-kun," Hinata smiled knowing the boy was trying to cheer her up in his own way. "You don't need to worry about me, I have faith in all three of us," she smiled brightly while giving her teammate a small hug eliciting a blush from Kiba.

"Well that's alright then," Kiba mumbled slinking further back into his hood to hide his red cheeks.

"I too believe we shall triumph today. Our opponents may have more experience yes, but we are a more cohesive unit. I believe our strategies to counter their abilities will allow us to ultimately prevail," Shino said.

"Translation, Shino also thinks we are good to go," barked Kiba.

"Indeed," Shino responded pushing his glasses up his face which caused them to glint ominously.

"You know, you could express a bit more enthusiasm Shino," Kiba whined.

"I believe you are expressing enough for the both of us Kiba-san," Shino said pointing to Kiba's flushed cheeks. This of course got a rise out of their more feral teammate who proceeded to pounce on Shino.

"You guys-"Hinata started before a pearl of laughter escaped her mouth causing her to begin a fit of giggles.

"W-what-"Kiba began from his position on the floor of the carriage where he had Shino pinned. His expression of bewilderment just seemed to set her off again though "Hey what's so funny?"

"W-we are," Hinata said between giggles as she stared at her two teammates as they began to pick themselves up.

"I fail to see your point Hinata-san," Shino said as he fixed his ruffled coat.

Hinata took a moment to compose herself before locking eyes with her team, "It's just that we are so different yet... I'm really glad I was put on team 8."

Getting up off the floor Kiba made his way towards Hinata followed by Shino "Jeez, Girls always gotta get so mushy."

"I believe Hinata-sans emotional responses are... endearing," Supplied Shino.

The jovial atmosphere was soon cut by a rough bark from Akamaru "Yea, I know buddy," Kiba said as he sniffed the air.

From inside Shino's coat his hive began to buzz at a higher frequency, as he nodded his head towards Kiba.

"Yes, they are coming," Hinata supplied her Byakugan having been active the whole time "Everyone please be careful."

* * *

"Hey Baki, how many more of these shipments do we need anyway?" Tsubaki asked as the trio leapt through the trees.

Baki glanced at his companion out of the corner of his eye and let out a long suffering sigh "This will be the last one Tsubaki, now that we have garnered Konoha's attention it is no longer safe here."

From his right Baki noticed a figure drop down next to him "Hmm, afraid of the tree huggers Baki?"

"No Subaru, Konoha is not a concern you know that as well as I do. They simply do not have the manpower to devote a sufficient force to dealing with a minor operation like ours. The wake of the Kyubi's attack has left them weaker than they care to broadcast," Baki surmised.

"Then why?" Tsubaki questioned "We have a good thing going on here."

"As usual the both of you fail to see the bigger picture!" Baki admonished. "Once Konoha becomes involved it will only be a short time till news spreads, and if that news spreads to Kiri..." The rest was left unsaid as Baki saw the ashen looks on his comrade's faces.

"Now enough of this, the shipment is in sight. This will be our last score then we will leave."

"What about the doctor and the brat?" Subaru asked.

"Once their usefulness has ended they will be eliminated" Baki said calmly.

"Hmm that's' cold Baki, poor little Kazumi has been ever so useful after all. Not going to uphold your end of the deal? Tsubaki giggled.

Baki turned to face Tsubaki and sent her a withering glare that stopped her laughter in its tracks.

"Alright, alright I was just joking" She placated.

"The time for jokes has passed, get ready the target is dead ahead."

* * *

As the three missing nin landed team 8 leapt from their hiding spot unleashing a barrage of Kunai and shuriken catching their opponents off guard with various cuts and nicks.

"Gah, what the hell!" one of missing nin yelled before the group was forced to scatter due to a much larger incoming projectile.

Baki and Subaru who were positioned to the side were fortunate enough to leap out of the way in time just as Tsubaki was nailed in the chest by a tornado of fangs and claws which sent her and her attacker hurtling deeper into the forest.

"What the hell is going on here?" Subaru yelled as he turned a threatening glare to the remainder of team 8. "Well, well it looks like the baby ninja survived after all. I'm not sure how you did it but this stops now!" Subaru bellowed as he dashed at the remainder of team 8.

"Wait Subaru calm down!" Baki yelled to no avail.

As Subaru drew within a few feet of team 8 several spikes of insects jutted up from the ground in quick succession, corralling him to the edge of the clearing.

"That weak shit isn't enough to even scratch me! You should have learnt by now bug bo-"

 **Boom!**

Before he could even finish his taunt Subaru was sent flying from the clearing by an explosion that was located in the area he was forced into.

"Indeed, my insects are insufficient to pierce your skin... other tactics will have to be employed," Shino said as he calmly walked from the clearing in search of his opponent.

"Idiot!" Baki grumbled as he palmed his face. "This is why I tell them not to rush in."

For a moment there was silence in the clearing as both Baki and Hinata remained facing each other.

"Well I for one have no intention of fighting you in a location where you have the advantage, so I guess I'll leave" he said calmly.

Not trusting her opponent Hinata got into her stance.

"Feisty little thing aren't you. Don't worry I have no intention of fighting here," He said as he began to back away.

Taken slightly off guard by his actions, Hinata was unsure how to act as this was not how the plan was supposed to go.

"When you leave I can just assist my teammates you know" Hinata said puzzled by his retreat.

"Well you could... but if you did that I wonder what will happen to sweet little Kazumi and all those village children" He said his face morphing into a vicious grin. "I guess you'll have to follow me to find out... or not on your head be it. But don't take too long to decide, the clocks ticking." And with that her opponent blurred in a feat of speed and made a hasty retreat out of the clearing.

Fast, he was still really fast; if she didn't move soon he would be outside of her range to track. But she could go and help her team to guarantee the win, they were more important right? Besides who knew where Kazumi's loyalties really lay.

" _That's right to me all the kids in this village are my family, I do all I can to protect them"_

But could someone who could speak so earnestly really be lying?

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **CHOICES**

 **OBJECTIVE: Assist team 8 or save Kasumi**

 **MAIN REWARD: 100 Reputation with Shino and Kiba Or 3 levels in the Compassion skill and 1 Charisma.**

No, she couldn't do it. While a large part of her wanted to go and assist her friends, she knew she would always regret it if she didn't save Kazumi and those kids. Besides her team was strong, they wouldn't be taken down in a place like this.

"Kiba-kun, Shino-kun both of you win" she said as she darted from the clearing.

* * *

Coming out of his rotation Kiba dug a foot into the floor, raking up leaves and dirt in an attempt to arrest his momentum. The force from his Tsuga created a long trench in the dirt leading up to several broken branches where his opponent lay prone.

"Grrrrr!" Akamaru growled by his side as the pup saw the orange haired nin slowly get back up. The front of her clothing was torn up and she had several bloody gashes lining her stomach.

"Not so tough now are-" Kiba was cut off as a kunai was flicked from his downed opponent leaving a thin line across his check that began to swell with blood.

"Shut up!" the words came out like a low hiss, like water being brought to the boil. Slowly bubbling beneath the surface in preparation to erupt.

Using an arm to steady herself Tsubaki stood back up, her hair flopped over her face obscuring it from Kiba's view.

Suddenly a jet of propulsion erupted from her feet launching her at inhuman speeds towards Kiba, a kunai bared right for his throat.

Sparks erupted as Kiba managed to bring a kunai of his own up to block the strike. Tsubaki's own weapons was inches away from his throat.

"You know, things would have been much less painful for you if you had just died like a good little mutt," Tsubaki growled as she backed off letting Kiba jolt forward due her counterforce no longer being there.

Using his brief lapse as an opening Tsubaki swung the butt of her kunai at Kiba's face causing a torrent of blood to seep from his now broken nose.

"Grrrr! Arf! Arf!" Akamaru growled as he leapt to his partners defence fangs bared which caused Tsubaki to back off a few steps.

"That dog is getting to be a pain in the arse. In fact both of you are practically begging me to boil you alive!" Tsubaki ranted. "How would you like that, to feel your skin split? To feel the blood boil in your veins before it comes rushing out like a geyser from the earth, how would you like that you tree hugging little shit!" Tsubaki shouted as a hand reached down to clutch the wound on her stomach.

"Chhh, this really hurts you know, time to pay it back tenfold!"

Kiba was forced to throw himself back as a steam propelled fist tore through the space his head used to occupy, the heat her body was radiating was to the extent that he could feel it as the fist passed in front of his face.

The abrupt dodge left him momentarily unbalanced but a Tsuga from Akamaru had Tsubaki once more on the back foot.

"Damn she's not playing around, I guess she's the type to go all berserk once she guts pissed off," Kiba mused as he dropped down to all fours and dashed back into the fray.

Channelling chakra to his limbs Kiba engaged his foe in Taijutsu. Keeping low to the ground Kiba proceeded to launch several slashes and kicks at his opponent while Akamaru harassed from the side.

Soon the duo began to gain some ground as cuts and slashed started to pop up on Tsubaki's skin, forcing the former Kiri Shinobi onto the back foot.

"Cut that out!" Tsubaki yelled as steam erupted from her elbow **"Futton: Funsuiken."** (Boil Release: Erupting Propulsion Fist)

A swift right hook found its way hurtling towards Kiba's face forcing him to put up a cross arm guard as he was blown back from his opponent.

"Crap, that one made my arms feel numb," he complained.

I know I'm faster than her but those attacks are still hard to dodge, Kiba thought to himself.

"You know what enough Taijutsu, let me give you a lesson in a real shinobi art!" Tsubaki said as her hands blurred through seals.

" **Futton: San Yokuso."** (Boil Release: Acid Bath)

From her mouth Tsubaki started firing rabid shots of a viscous purple fluid that dissolved whatever it came into contact with. Kiba was forced to duck behind several trees in order to avoid the shots.

"You can't hide from me forever!" Tsubaki taunted.

Getting annoyed with the running Kiba shot back "who's hiding idiot, it's called making use of your terrain. Perhaps instead of fighting me you should go back to the academy for some remedial lessons!"

"Oh that's it you little shit!" Tsunbaki growled as she once more flipped through hand seals.

"Let's see you dodge this one **Futton: San Arashi (** Boil Release: Acid Storm)"

Sucking in a deep breath and then expelling it a river of purple liquid shot out of her mouth coating the forest floor. The liquid ooze caused all the organic material on the floor to hiss and burn, the liquid was so potent that it even ate away the trunks of trees causing them to topple into the liquid and quickly dissolve.

Seeing the wave of liquid incoming Kiba scooped Akamaru up into his arms and leapt for a tree out of the rivers path.

Kiba's eyes widened as Tsubaki appeared in his flight path in a burst of speed and kicked him straight towards the dissipating river of slime.

"Hah so long dog boy, I'll be sure to mail your corpse back to Konoha so they can bury you," Tsubaki giggled. "Well whatever's left of your corpse at any rate."

As he was flung through the air Kiba's eyes scanned the area looking for any route for escape. Akamaru let lose a small whine as the pup curled itself into his chest.

"Damnit!" Kiba swore as he looked around. Above him the forest canopy was too far away, to the left the tree line had been destroyed and to the right any remaining branches were just out of reach, and below...

* * *

Shino followed the path of debris his exploding tag created, past the fallen trees and disturbed flora. As he moved through the wreckage he spied his opponent casually picking himself up from the ground.

"Wow that could actually have been dangerous," he said as he creaked his nick to the side with a loud crack. "Ah that's the stuff, it's important to keep the body limber you know. I got to hand it to you, if I wasn't as amazing as I am that probably would have killed me."

What took Shino by surprise was his opponents face had become a metallic grey. This colouration spread to all the other visible skin on his body.

"In case you were wondering this is my absolute defence, my impenetrable fortress **Koton: Tekkai** (Steel Release: Iron Mass). This is my declaration to you now, with this you won't even lay a scratch on my skin no matter how hard you try!"

"Curious, this technique is different from what you demonstrated earlier," Shino mused.

"Damn straight it is kid. Tell you what since you're not leaving here alive I'll at least tell you about the awe inspiring technique that Subaru-Sama created," he grinned.

"This thing is really chakra intensive so I'm not goanna be messing around with you, but I channel a large amount of Chakra to the epidermis layer of my skin. By infusing and surrounding the skin in chakra I can made it as hard as steel; sorry to say but your little bugs can't bite through this."

In response to his opponents rambling Shino lifted up his sleeves and allowed a swarm of insects to spill forth filling the air around him.

"Ah, is lecture time over? Forgive me I was unaware you were so eager to rush towards death. Kids these days, well I won't have anyone say that Subaru-Sama was not an obliging host," He said with a grin splitting his face. "Give Shinigami-Sama my best regards."

With a start Subaru dashed forward to engage Shino, his every step leaving deep impressions into the ground.

As Shino noticed his opponents charge he commanded his hive to swirl around him forming a protective shield and obscuring him from view.

Paying no attention to the wall of insects in his path Subaru proceeded to burst through their defence as if it was made of paper. As he overcame the defence Shino was once more in view.

"Here you ar-"he began before a lance of insects sprung up from the ground and struck him in the chin sending his head flying back.

For a moment both the battlefield was completely still as Shino waited to see the results of his attack.

"Urghh," Subaru moaned as he slowly cranked his head back down to face Shino.

"That was... That was great!" he exclaimed "I have had this pain in my neck for days but boom one shot from you and it's all gone. I'm telling you kid, give up on this shinobi stuff your missing your true calling as a chiropractor."

Shino buried his face further into his collar to hide his frown; it seemed that his opponent was not all talk.

"Here let me return the favour!" Subaru yelled as he leapt in order to deliver an axe kick straight to Shino.

Shino barely managed to roll to the side as the kick descended, the impact of the blow caused the ground to shatter and chunks of debris to fly everywhere.

"Man this really is like trying to swat a bug, you just never stay still," Subaru complained as he pulled his foot out from where it had wedged in the ground.

Not wasting an opportunity Shino wrapped several Kunai in explosive tags and threw them at Subaru's feet.

As the tags landed Shino leapt away to a safe distance.

"Didn't I tell you-" Subaru began as Shino triggered the tags engulfing him in a large fiery explosion.

"Your overconfidence in your abilities was your own downfall," Shino muttered as he waited for the smoke to clear. The explosion was several magnitudes larger than the original one he hit his opponent with, absolute defence or not there was no way he was getting away unscathed.

As Shino had seen no movement within the cloud he was content to go and aid one of his teammates, however all of a sudden his hive became agitated around him as the smoke seemed to writhe.

Like a shot Subaru burst from the smoke and was in front of Shino in an instant.

" **Koton: Shin no Katto."** (Steel Release: True Cut)

It was a squelching sound that met Shino's ears as he looked down to see a metallic hand speared through his chest.

With a violent cough blood seeped from Shino's lips as he stared into his opponents eyes.

"Didn't I tell you earlier, you won't even lay a scratch on my skin no matter how hard you try."

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Hi all apologies for the long absence, Work and my personal life have been crazy recently. Having a year's worth of work dumped on you and being told to do it in two and a half months will do that.**

 **I originally wanted to end the C rank this chapter but due to work commitments and personal commitments this week I was not able to finish it. The next chapter has about 1000 words written so far and I aim to publish it by new years so you should get two chapters in very short succession all being well.**

 **On another note a big thank you to everyone that entered a monster in the rare spawn contest, all the entries were very good and I may need to find a way to incorporate them later in the story (dungeon hard modes?). But a very big thank you to Moon so bright who submitted several entries and whose Jackalope was chosen for this chapter.**

 **Sadly no beta reader this chapter, not had time to look for a new one yet, will get on that soon.**

 **I had an interesting guest review recently that was wondering if this story is just going to follow cannon. The short answer to that is no it won't. Sure cannon will have a bearing but the plot will diverge. I would like to think that we have had a good amount of original content already but for large sweeping changes I would like to explain my opinion.**

 **I see a lot of stories out there that wildly diverge from cannon for no reason. To me if you're going to change things there needs to be a reason for that change to occur and the appropriate world building. Yes Hinata being the gamer is an appropriately large change, However if she were to immediately start to make Sasuke her bitch in sparing, tie Naruto up and place him in her sex dungeon or do any other ludicrous thing it would be completely out of character.**

 **Fundamental and important character growth takes time. If you properly develop things its much more satisfying when you reap a reward. That's my opinion anyway.**

 **Good news after the New Year updates will be back to normal I would hope and I have some really fun stuff planned.**

 **As usual tell me what you liked, tell me what you didn't. Feedback is important.**


	14. Chapter 14

Hinata Hyūga: A Gamers Potential

Hinata swiftly leapt from branch to branch as she followed in pursuit of her opponent. The wind streaked past her face causing her hair to blow and fray as she increased her pace.

With her Byakugan she saw Baki leap from the tree line and dash towards a cliff face that was situated not too far ahead. As she approached the edge of the tree line Hinata held her position, going any further would mean exposing herself in the gap between the trees and the cliff face.

As Baki approached the cliff face Hinata saw him enter a cave at its base and disappear inside. She could see him moving through a network of tunnels until he eventually escaped the range of her vision.

"I don't like this," she muttered to herself. Now she was in enemy territory, territory that would put her at a major disadvantage.

Hinata took a few moments to examine her surroundings and the path to the cave. While doing this she noticed several traps that could easily catch those unprepared.

Hinata dropped out of the tree, landing softly. Cautiously she made her way over to the cave entrance, her Byakugan easily allowing her to circumvent the traps that had been placed.

 **Stealth has increased by 1**

 **Wisdom has increased by 1**

Now that she was closer to the cave she could see that it actually extended quite deeply. There seemed to be three areas of interest.

The first appeared to be a holding cell of some sort where she could see a large group of children huddled together.

The next appeared to be some form of treasury, one that was filled with stacks of money and other valuable items.

Finally Hinata could see a Laboratory with three people inside, one of which was Baki and another being Kazumi. Try as she might she could not recognise the third figure among the trio.

While a part of her wanted to go straight to the children to help them, she knew that having a large group of civilians running about would only hinder her in the long run..

Hinata swiftly made her way through the tunnels, her eyes fixed to the lab. As she progressed she saw Baki converse with Kazumi causing the younger girl to lash out at the missing nin with a scalpel found in the lab. Baki retaliated by striking Kazumi and after knocking out the third figure. Baki proceeded to place the third figure over his shoulder and leave through a tunnel at the back of the lab that seemed to extend back to the surface.

Eventually Hinata arrived at the lab only to see Kazumi knelt on the floor weeping.

"K-kazumi-chan?"

"Go away!" Kazumi said as she turned to face away from Hinata.

"Kazumi-chan I need you to tell me what's going on here, please I can help,"

"Help-"Kazumi choked as she whirled round to face Hinata, her eyes puffy and red. Her hands clenched so tightly that her palms bit into the scalpel that she held onto like a lifeline. Slowly beads of red began to drip slowly to the floor; however so great was her anguish that she paid them no heed.

"- What could you possibly do to help? Do you have any idea what it's like, the lying the betrayal?" She began to rant and gesticulate with her arms.

"You see my hands are already covered with far too much red," she said pointing down to her bloody hand.

Tentatively Hinata reached out to comfort the other girl "Don't touch me!" Kazumi yelled as she batted Hinata's hand away.

"Everything's gone wrong," Kazumi sighed as Hinata attempted to get closer once again.

"Why did you have to come here, they said once they got what they wanted they would let us leave," She said as she gripped her forearm tightly.

This was not the first time Hinata had seen Kazumi do that, so with speed that belied her often passive nature she reached out to grab Kazumi's wrist and lifted the sleeve of her Kimono.

"Oh Kazumi-chan," Hinata said softly.

"Don't you dare!" Kazumi yelled as she attempted to break free. "Don't you pity me," she said as she struggled to pull the sleeve back down to hide the copious needle marks that littered her arm.

Thousands of thoughts were blurring through Hinata's mind but the only one she managed to vocalise was...

"Why?"

"Why?" Kazumi said with a defeated tone as she stared up at Hinata with her tear streaked face.

"So they wouldn't have to."

"I don't under-"

"You wouldn't understand! What do you know of hardship, growing up an entitled little brat in Konoha?" Kazumi chided.

"Out here we look out for each other," Kazumi said as she tried to regain her bearing. "They kidnapped my dad and forced him to make all this stuff or they would come after me," She laughed grimly.

"But it didn't end there, they needed people to test the product on. So they started kidnapping the local children, too small to fight back you see," she said shaking her head. "I found out and made a deal with them, I would take their place. I would test it and then when they had enough they would leave and nobody would get hurt,"

Mentally Hinata was disgusted; there was no way those Kiri nin would leave any loose ends behind, this was just cruel.

Instinctively Hinata pulled Kazumi into a tight embrace even as the other girl resisted.

"Everything was going to be okay..." Kazumi muttered.

"Don't worry Kazumi-chan, I won't let them get away with this," Hinata promised.

"Them?" she said as she tensed in Hinata's arms.

"This is all your fault!" Kasumi yelled.

 **Squelch**

Hinata suddenly felt a sharp pain erupt from her side and almost released Kazumi from her grip.

"He killed them!" Kazumi said as she thrashed against Hinata's hold.

"If you hadn't interfered they would have left-"she bawled.

"K-kazumi-chan please stop," Hinata grunted in pain.

"He killed all the kids, for breaking my end of the deal. I-I couldn't protect them, even after all this," she said as she sagged in Hinata's arms, the fight leaving her.

"Why did you have to come here? Now they're all dead and it's all my fault... it's all my fault."

Hinata clenched her fists as a wild untameable emotion boiled in the pit of her stomach, but she pushed it down.

Hinata gently placed a finger under Kazumi's chin and lifted her head to look her in the eyes.

"Kazumi-chan, the kids are safe," she said as she once more felt the other girl stiffen in her arms.

"That's cruel, don't lie to me like that," Kazumi said as she attempted to avert her gaze once more.

"Kazumi-chan, I'm not lying. The children are in a holding area further up these tunnels. I was able to find them with my Byakugan," Hinata said pointing to her eyes.

"But then..." Kazumi said as her eyes widened in realisation.

"They lied to you," Hinata said as she placed a comforting hand on the other girl's shoulder.

"Oh no, Hinata..." Kazumi said as she stared down to where a scalpel was lodged in Hinata's side.

"I'm so sor-"

"You have nothing to apologise for," Hinata said giving Kazumi a warm smile.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Kazumi said as her eyes darted around the room looking for medical supplies.

Placing both hands on the frantic girls shoulders, Hinata once more tried to calm her.

"This is nothing. The pain I'm feeling right now is nothing compared to what you've been going through all this time," she said in a soothing voice.

"B-but," Kazumi stammered.

"But nothing," Hinata said with finality. "Kazumi-chan, you've done a great job so far but leave the rest to me. I need you to trust me okay?"

"I-I..." Kazumi could barely get out as she felt a weight being lifted from her shoulders as she tightly gripped on to Hinata.

"Shhh, it's going to be fine now," Hinata said to the crying girl in her arms.

"Please... please save my tou-chan," Kazumi pleaded.

As she clenched her fists Hinata felt that searing, white hot presence start bubbling in her gut. It felt like a river of molten steel coursing through her veins, churning angrily and ready to erupt at even the slightest provocation.

Moving herself away from Kazumi Hinata started to walk towards the back exit. As she neared the exit she looked over her shoulder and flashed a smile she didn't truly feel.

"Don't worry, I'll bring your tou-chan back. Go take care of those kids and we'll be back before you know it," Hinata said as she dashed up the tunnel quickly making her way to the surface.

As she neared the top she heard a sobbing cry of 'Thank You' echo from down the tunnel.

Reaching down to her side Hinata ripped out the scalpel, paying no mind to the pain it caused her as she exited the tunnel.

Clenching her hand into a fist she swung it back letting it connect with the wall behind her creating a loud **Crunch.**

After venting a small portion of her frustration Hinata took off in search of Baki, not noticing the web of cracks her hit created in the side of the wall.

Hinata's legs continued to move as she felt the blood writhing beneath her skin, her vision seemed to sharpen and her mind quicken.

This experience was completely new to her, being such a passive person depression tended to be an emotion she was more familiar with. If she was more composed she may have been alarmed at how well she was taking to anger, well there's a first time for everything.

* * *

"Damnit!" Kiba swore as the ground drew ever closer. He couldn't go left, he couldn't go right and he couldn't go up.

"That only leaves down!" he snarled as he bundled Akamaru inside his jacket.

Swinging his body from side to side he slowly started to rotate until he began to pick up speed.

"Just a little bit faster, I'm only gonna have one shot at this, ' **Tsuga'** (Passing Fang)!"

Reaching the peak of his rotation Kiba tucked his body inwards and barrelled straight into the lake of purple ooze much to the shock of his opponent.

"What the hell!" Tsubaki said gobsmacked. "Damn I didn't expect you to go and off yourself," she muttered shaking her head. "Well you're not my problem anymore."

As she was turning to go and meet up with her team she heard a draining noise from behind her. Shifting her head to get a better look she could see that the pool from her jutsu was starting to drain into the ground.

Years of honed instincts suddenly screamed out at her to move from where she stood as she flung her body to the side just in time to see the earth erupt from beneath her and a clawed fist pass just in front of her face.

Landing in a crouch Tsubaki leapt several feet back from her opponent with a stunned look on her face.

"How?"

"Geez , hot, hot ,hot!" Kiba yelled as he tore off his rapidly dissolving coat and chain mesh vest.

"Ah that was close, for a minute I thought I might die," he sighed as he got a whine of agreement from Akamaru.

"Boy you okay?" he questioned, getting a small yip from his companion.

"Oi," Tsubaki said.

"I know boy, that stuff was more dangerous than it looks,"

"Arf, Arf,"

"Oi," she said as a tick mark appeared on her head.

"Don't remind me, mum's going to be totally pissed that I tried something like that... hachoo! " Kiba shivered due to his now bare torso. "Brr it's cold without a top on out here,"

"Hey, shit for brains stop ignoring me!" Tsubaki yelled her tenuous grip on her patience disappearing. "How the hell did you survive that attack!"

Focusing his attention back on his opponent Kiba let a shit eating grin split his face "1% luck, 99% skill, and 100% awesome!"

That comment caught Tsubaki flat footed for a moment before she shrugged it off "Yep, I think I've decided I'm going to kill you in the most painful way I can think of."

Kiba then noticed her muttering to herself about the increasingly violent and more graphic ways she would kill him, causing a shiver to pass down his spine.

"Alright, keep your panties on. The wind generated by my **Tsuga** was enough to part enough of the liquid that I didn't get a face full of it. After that I just had to drill deep enough to let it drain away, I figured if I couldn't go up I may as well go all in going down," he hurriedly explained.

"You know, I think that says something about you that you're so willing to head face first towards destruction. Luckily for you I'm starting to tire of this little game of ours, so I feel like I'll indulge you," Tsubaki said as she began to work her way through more hand seals.

"You know you should be proud, as much as it irritates me I'm going to have to use one of her techniques to win this," Tsubaki said as her brow furrowed in concentration.

"I have to admit I'm not brilliant with this move yet, but it should be good enough," she said with a smug grin as if her victory was assured.

"Like hell I'll let you do something like that! Let's do it Akamaru!" Kiba yelled as he dropped down on all fours as chakra started to pour from his body.

" **Giju Ninpo: Shikyaku no Jutsu** (Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique)."

As he prepared to leap Kiba's features became more feral and his eyes became slits. His nails visibly lengthened and sharpened, becoming miniature claws.

With a surprising burst of speed he and Akamaru shot forth in a well synchronised attack, he went high and Akamaru went low, both of them aiming for vital spots.

"It's over!" he growled as his claws slashed straight through her body.

Kiba and Akamaru both landing behind their opponent as the blue hue of his chakra faded.

This technique was more risky as he had not yet mastered it. It was only due to some intense training with his sensei that it had become useable.

The four legs technique was one that brought an Inuzuka's more animalistic nature to the foreground. It made them brash and easy to anger, but in return greatly enhanced their speed and strength as well as their instinct.

All of a sudden the blood froze in Kiba's veins as the sound of laughter echoed in the battlefield.

"Hahaha, was that it?" came Tsubaki's mocking voice.

"Like hell I'll let you," she said between snorts. "It's over. Do you have any idea how childish you sound? You're just a little baby playing ninja."

Tsubaki turned round to face her opponent and delighted at the look of shock and fear present on his face as he watched he wounds he had inflicted hiss and steam shut.

"What no more false bravado?" she taunted.

"H-how?" Kiba stuttered.

"1% luck, 99% skill, and 100% awesome!" Tsubaki grinned.

Kiba was so stunned by her retort that he failed to dodge the fist that impacted him in the stomach, nor was he able to see the kick that sent him sprawling to the ground.

" **Kiri no Yoroi** (Armour of Mist) I wish I could say it was one of my own original techniques... but it does the job in a pinch," She said as she stalked over to her downed foe "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Arf!" Akamaru howled as the pup launched itself at their foe from behind causing her to dodge out of the way.

"Stupid mutt!" Tsubaki yelled as she launched a vicious kick at the ninken causing him to crumple in a heap next to his partner.

"Akamaru!" Kiba cried. "Damn it, you'll pay for that," Kiba yelled as he rushed his opponent with a flurry of punches and kicks.

Meanwhile Tsubaki just stood there taking blow after blow. Upon contact her body would explode into puffs of mist that would quickly reform showing her to be completely undamaged.

Finally getting bored of playing along, Tsubaki caught Kiba's next fist and kneed him directly in the gut. She then proceeded to clasp both hands above her head and bring them down right on the small of Kiba's back, sending him crashing to the floor.

I-I can't win, Kiba thought as he desperately tried to roll away from his opponents continued onslaught.

Quickly leaping to his feet he dashed forward to pick up Akamaru before dashing into the trees, his opponent hot on his heels.

'She can't be invincible, no defence is perfect. Man, Shino and Hinata are better at this kind of stuff. Damnit I'm not going to be the weak link here.

Okay, what do I know. Well for starters she's a total bit-'

He thought as he dodged a blob of acid that melted the branch he was perched on.

'-ch. And she can just reform from any attack she takes.'

Deciding that he just had to man up, Kiba placed Akamaru behind a bush before barrelling towards his opponent with a Tsuga.

"You just don't learn do you dog boy? Tsubaki laughed as Kiba barred in one side and out the other.

"I'm like the mist, you can't grasp me, and you can't harm me."

Sucking in several deep breaths Kiba kept watch as his opponent stalked towards him. He was almost out of chakra; if he was honest he could barely scrounge up enough for another Tsuga, with a little change.

Granted his opponent was not much better, the telltale signs of strain were showing on her face from keeping this technique active. But it wouldn't matter if he couldn't even hit her, hell she didn't even need to bother dodging his atta...

In that moment Kiba felt a grin split his face, he could win.

Summoning up the last of his chakra he formed the hand seals:

Snake.

"What are you grinning about dog boy, surely you know you can't win right?"

Rat.

"Ignoring me huh, well let's see what you final stand looks like. The last hurrah!" she taunted.

Monkey.

All of a sudden the ground around Tsubaki erupted in motion as he tensed for an attack.

"What the shit, flower petals?" Tsubaki groused in confusion as a blizzard of brightly covered petals spiralled around her, completely obscuring Kiba from her vision.

It took a few moments for her to realise this was not an attack before her brain kicked in at the extremely unlikely eventuality.

"What the hell 'Kai'!" she shouted disrupting her chakra network.

"A bloody Inuzuka using genjut-" her tirade was cut off as she felt a searing pain erupt from her back sending her flying across the ground to land in an unmoving heap.

"Huff, huff, how do you like that," Kiba panted practically spent from that last Tsuga.

Kiba continued to watch as his opponent rolled onto her injured back and tilted her head to maintain eye contact with him.

"H-how did you get past my jutsu?" Tsubaki asked, gone was the bravado and pride from her voice.

"Akamaru. You took everything I sent your way. But when Akamaru attacked from behind you dodged," Kiba explained.

"Typical, I get done in by a mutt and his dog. An Inuzuka using genjutsu..." she trailed off as she slipped into unconsciousness.

After seeing his opponent pass out Kiba allowed his muscles to relax and he too found that he was having difficulty retaining his grasp on consciousness.

"Yea, I like your thinking. Perhaps a nap would be a good idea..." he mumbled as he too slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

* * *

Kazumi felt her legs burn as she trudged through the forest with the village children following behind her. She easily found the room where they were being kept, and much to her relief all of them were in good condition.

No needle marks, they were just scared and hungry. She was thankful that Baki at least kept his word on that one small thing.

Now it was her job to get the kids home safe, a job that proved to be more difficult due to the sounds of battle she could hear echoing through the trees.

As they were passing through the forest one of the battlefields turned silent. She didn't know what that meant, but she could only hope Hinata, Kiba and Shino were alright. She felt that it was her fault they were in this situation and she prayed that they would make it out okay.

* * *

Subaru was left to revel in his victory as his arm was wedged deep inside Shino's torso. He could see a pained expression briefly well up on his opponent's face, but all of a sudden something seemed off.

Shino's face began to shift and contort, as if something was moving beneath the surface of his skin until finally his head burst into a swarm of insects that began to latch themselves onto Subaru's skin.

"What's this?" Subaru cried in a start as the torso his arm was lodged in also broke down into a swarm of insects that latched themselves to him.

Seeing that his trap was sprung Shino stepped out from the undergrowth as his insects began to coat Subaru from head to toe.

Soon enough Subaru's whole body was covered save for his face.

"How, I felt my arm pierce right through you?"

"I am not so inclined as to reveal my secrets to the enemy during a fight," Shino said calmly as his black glasses flashed dangerously due to the light filtering through the canopy.

"I-I feel so weak," Subaru muttered. "But you shouldn't be able to pierce my skin with these shitty bugs," he wondered as he began to feel his chakra being leached out of him.

Slowly the bugs began to spread up his neck and towards his ears, it felt slimy and disturbing as they crawled up. Soon enough they were passed his ears and he could hear their faint clicking and screeching. It was getting louder and was starting to sound like it was coming from his own head.

Knowing that his reserves were dwindling fast and that he wouldn't be able to endure this much longer Subaru reached up and worked through several hand signs in a desperate attempt to free himself from his opponent.

" **Koton: Kinzoku-on"** (Steel Release: Metal Sound).

All of a sudden Subaru's body began to vibrate as high pitched wail reverberated through the surrounding area.

All of a sudden Shino began to feel a sense of vertigo and discomfort as he was forced to a knee. Through the link he shared with his hive he could also feel their distress as they launched themselves from Subaru's body in an attempt to flee the noise.

As dramatically as it started the noise ended, allowing Shino to re-centre himself. Honestly he had not expected such a straightforward fighter like Subaru to have a move like that in his arsenal.

As his hive flew back into closer proximity he learned that Subaru only had around twenty percent of his chakra left. His opponent made a mistake when he bragged about his ability, while it was true that his insects could not pierce his skin they really did not need to.

Subaru's absolute defence worked by infusing chakra into the skin and surrounding the skin in an additional layer of chakra. While he could do nothing about the infused layer, by siphoning off the layer surrounding the skin he forced Subaru to unknowingly compensate by pushing even more chakra out, starting a vicious cycle.

Either way, Shino knew that this battle was already won. His opponent had stumbled head first into his trap and hadn't even realised.

"You're smart, I'll give you that," Subaru panted. "You switched yourself out with a clone when your little insects obscured you from my view earlier, didn't you?" Subaru stated rather than questioned.

"But without a distraction you won't get that lucky again," he stated as he moved back into a combat stance.

Seeing his opponent ready himself Shino cocked his head to the side in a contemplative manner.

"Then I shall simply take a page out of your book then," Shino said calmly.

"Oh and what's that?" Subaru said cautiously as his opponent raised both of his arms up.

"I shall completely overwhelm you with superior force."

As his declaration had been made a torrent of insects poured forth from out of his sleeves in a powerful wave. Rapidly they began to join their brethren in the skies above them, so numerous were their numbers that they blocked the remaining sunlight that filtered through the canopy, shrouding the area in darkness.

"B-but how," Subaru stammered as for the first time in this fight he took a step backwards. "How can a Genin like you have a hive this big, it's impossible!" he raged as he watched the swirling mass of insects hover dangerously all around the arena.

With a flick of his hand the torrent of insects surged at Subaru forcing the missing nin to force all of his remaining chakra to his legs in order to give him the speed to outmanoeuvre his opponent.

Subaru dodged just in time as the swarm of insects collided with the ground where he once stood. He was beginning to think that he may have severely underestimated his opponent.

Shino continued to move his hands as if he were conducting an orchestra only he could see. Each flick of his wrist, each snap of his fingers sent a fresh wave of insect hurtling after his opponent; herding him like a wounded animal waiting for the slaughter.

"Do you know how insects hunt their prey?" Shino asked as if he were asking after the time of day.

"First they weaken it so that it has trouble fighting back, and then the hive descends upon it. And in one swift motion predators much larger and much more ferocious are left as dried up husks at the hives feet."

"Individually insects may be weak, but as a team they can humble even the mightiest of foe" Shino said simply. "The only question is how long can you last for."

Subaru was at his wits end, that creepy Genin's voice sent a chill down his spine. He could feel his chakra draining to a trickle; it was so bad that he had to drop his defensive jutsu just to stay away from the onslaught.

Every time he attempted to get close a defensive wall of insects would rise up in front of Shino preventing his advance. He simply didn't have the chakra to spare to dash straight through them either.

"You damn monster! How are you this strong anyway?" Subaru yelled as he once more dodged the swarm.

He was frustrated, tired and afraid. His opponent hadn't even had the decency to respond to him, he just continued to track him with that cold calculating expression on his face.

This game of cat and mouse had been going on for several minutes, with each attack he was a little bit slower, with each dodge he was a bit more tired, and it wouldn't be long until-

"Shit!"

-he tipped falling to the floor as the wave of insects surged from behind him.

"No please don't I'm sorr-"was all he was able to get out before he was engulfed by the hoard.

Subaru expected to feel pain, a slow agonising pain as his life was leached away from him. He was surprised to feel nothing.

In his fright he had shut his eyes as the end had come upon him. However as he slowly cracked them open he was shocked to see the swarm just floating benignly around him.

"What?"

Seeing as they made no move to engage him he tentatively raised a hand up to swat one of them out of the air only for his hand to pass straight through it.

Confusion made itself known on his face as he attempted to swat more of them out of the air only to receive the same result. Confusion then made way for shock and then anger.

"Kai!" Subaru shouted as he watched the swarm fade from his vision.

As he swirled round to watch his opponent he discovered that the only insects present were hovering around their master in a defensive fashion.

He couldn't help it, he erupted in a fit of laughter that rang through their surroundings, and however this was a hollow self deprecating laugh and not one of joy.

"This whole time I've been running from a genjutsu, and I used the last of my chakra to dispel it," he chuckled. "I've got one question for you kid, when?"

"At the same moment when I placed my 'Mushi Bunshin' (Insect Clone). My sensei is a famed Genjutsu mistress, misdirection is a key part of her craft of course she would impart this on us."

"Pretty ballsy, what if I hadn't taken the bait?" Subaru asked.

As he did so he felt his vision swim and his body seized up leaving him paralysed on the floor.

"Then I had other methods to ensure your compliance." Shino stated in a detached tone. "You allowed my insects to coat your entire body, this was a mistake. While your skin may be impenetrable other parts of you are not."

"Your eyes, your tear ducts, your mouth... even your ears," Shino had a feeling that if he could move Subaru's eyebrows would have hit the forest canopy above.

"It was a simple take to insert the neural worm when you were so distracted. This insect has the unique capability of intercepting brain signals to the rest of the body. Once I understood the nature of your ability your loss was certain, your own arrogance was your demise."

* * *

"You've actually improved quite a bit since we last fought," Baki joked in a jovial tone that belied his true feelings.

Improved was an understatement, she was faster than him. As much as he hated to admit it he actually needed to use his 'Jinton' (Swift release) to outpace her, and even then it was not by as much as their first encounter.

She hadn't managed to land a solid blow yet, thank god for that. From what little he knew about the gentle fist, it was a nightmare to go up against in taijutsu.

Despite her lack of success the little Hyūga seemed to be coming at him with much more force than he anticipated.

This was not how he had envisioned things going, he was going to use the old man as leverage to get her to drop her guard, knock her out, extract those eyes and be on his way.

Instead she barrelled right after him forcing him to drop his hostage in order to dodge her opening gambit. It was a rookie move, he held the advantage and he knew it... but that threw his expectations off by so much that she was able to get the hostage to safety.

In truth today was a bad day, and it was beginning to get on his nerves.

"Oi, don't you think you're taking a few too many liberties with me brat, let me show you some real speed,"

" **Jinton: Mueisho"** (Swift Release: Shadowless Flight).

The swift release was a fearsome ability, this ability in particular increased his speed to three times is usual potency. As such he was able to slip inside her guard and deliver a punch straight to her midsection. Usually this was the moment when opponents would panic, when they would realise how outmatched they were, he relished this moment.

However much to his shock he only saw a pair of steely white eyes that burned with determination.

Yes today was turning out to be a bad day.

* * *

Hinata steadied herself as she felt her opponent's fist collide with her body. She dug her feet into the floor to brace herself against the impact.

She was pleased that her plan had worked out as well as it had. She had been in no mood to play games with her opponent and as a result she caught him off guard so that she could free his hostage.

It was a risky and even reckless manoeuvre, one that under normal circumstances she would not have even considered. But she couldn't let this go, she couldn't let everything Kasumi had done go to waste.

Hinata knew what it felt like to be helpless, but this was her opportunity to break those chains from someone else, perhaps to break them for herself as well.

Seeing an opportunity Hinata grasped at the hand wedged in her abdomen with the intent to disable it completely only for it to be hurriedly wrenched away.

"Uh-uh, none of that," Baki chided as he aimed a kick to the side of her head.

In an impressive display of flexibility Hinata leant back allowing the kick to sail safely over her head while pivoting on one foot to bring her other leg up in a counter.

"Too slow!" Baki grunted as he managed to avoid the kick, his body seemed to blur as he created some distance between them.

"Fine let's see you dodge this," he exclaimed as his hands rushed through seals, Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger.

" **Katon: Endan** " (Fire Release: Flame Bullet).

A mass of crimson flames erupted from Baki's mouth coalescing into the shape of a fiery bullet bent on destruction.

Crouching down, Hinata flexed her lithe and nimble legs and shot forward, completely ignoring the fiery conflagration shooting towards her. Keeping her body low to the ground she was able to pass underneath the bullet, taking a direct path to her target.

Even Baki, who while not a veteran was certainly not a rookie blanched at Hinata's bravado. So great was his shock that he almost failed to dodge as Hinata streaked across the ground into striking distance.

With a flash of movement two chakra coated fingers snapped out intent on disabling Baki's arms.

" **Jinton: Mueisho"**

With a blur of movement Baki managed to angle his body to the side and counter with a left straight that connected to the centre of Hinata's face, knocking her back a few paces.

While her attack may not have hit, it certainly had an impact. Any and all traces of joviality or disrespect left Baki's face as he now considered the Shinobi that stood before him to be a credible threat.

Not wanting to give her opponent any time to recover Hinata channelled a stream of Chakra to her leg and flicked them forward twice, sending blue arcs of chakra hurtling at her opponent.

Baki saw the Chakra constructs head towards him and bounce on the ground, however as they bounced the difference between the two attacks became apparent, one arced to the left while the other arced to the right leaving no path for escape.

As he realised this Hinata took off like a shot, dashing her way into the opening she created down the centre.

A split second was all Baki needed to realise that he had been pinned into position, he would have to deal with this assault head on.

"Don't underestimate me!" Baki cried as he too charged forward channelling chakra down the length of his arms, causing them to blur slightly.

Anticipating resistance Hinata too blurred into a gust of leaves, suddenly appearing in front of her opponent.

"Wha-?" Baki was cut off as two palms impacted him directly in the chest.

" **Juken-Dengen Sutoraiku!** " Hinata yelled as she put everything she had into that one strike. Time seemed to freeze for a moment as she saw a pained expression bloom on Baki's face before his body erupted in a puff of smoke.

Hinata's eyes widened as her palms connected with a log of wood that exploded into shards from her attack.

With her near 360° vision she could easily see her opponent's incoming fist. With her natural grace she was able to lean out of the way despite being over extended from her last attack.

Suddenly pain erupted from her cheek as Hinata felt herself being knocked back.

"What?" she said stunned as he opponent pressed his attack.

Seeing another attack coming her way Hinata dodged to the side of the punch, intent on delivering her own counterattack when once more she felt a force crash into her face.

"Not so confident now, are you?" Grey eyes shining with mirth, Baki chuckled deeply. His previous wariness gone now that he was once more in control.

"I admit for a moment you had me worried, but you too will fall to my 'Kieru ken' (Vanishing Fist). Come; let's see how well your Juken (Gentle Fist) compares to my own style."

Not wanting to let herself be intimidated Hinata once more took up her stance, waiting patiently for her opponent to make his move.

Seeing the invitation for what it was Baki leapt into the fray sending another powerful punch in Hinata's direction.

Not bothering to dodge the blow, not after the last two attempts, Hinata stuck out to meet his fist head on. Coating her fist in Chakra she hoped to disable his limb at the moment of collision by sending a pulse of her own Chakra into him.

However it was not to be as Hinata's fist found nothing but air, passing right through the space Baki's fist used to be. Once more she found herself reeling back from another blow impacting her directly.

"Hey, are you sure you just want to try the same thing over and over?" Baki taunted.

Raising her hand up to her face Hinata wiped away a streak of blood that fell from her bust lip as she narrowed her eyes at her opponent.

I need to calm down, she thought as she took a deep breath. Getting worked up and charging in, that's not going to win me this fight. I need to find out the secret behind his technique.

Seeing the unfavourable situation Hinata leapt away firing two more **Rankyaku: Usaginoashi** to keep Baki at bay.

I need a closer look at that hit, it's clearly not an illusion, and there is no way that would get past my eyes. Therefore his fist really was there, and then not... but it can't really vanish, can it?

"Is that it? Is that really all you're capable off?" he said with a disappointed frown marring his face. "You know when you caught me off guard earlier, I actually felt worried for a moment. I guess I was just being overly cautious."

Not letting herself get distracted by his taunts Hinata focused on observing her opponent's movement, something about his attack seemed familiar, but she wasn't sure what.

"No answer, fine then... to business it is,"

What followed was a lesson in grit and determination as Hinata braced herself against the series of blows that connected with her, each one taking another chunk of her hp with it.

But she couldn't be concerned with that; she had to keep an eye on those fists. She may not have had much but one thing she was sure about was that nothing would escape her sight. She may not be much of a Hyūga in the traditional sense, but the Byakugan saw all.

"Got you," she said in barely above a whisper.

"Now to finish this **Kieru Ken: Shokku no Eikyo** " (Vanishing Fist: Shock Impact)

Time seemed to slow for Hinata as she saw Baki's fist aim straight for her heart, a killing blow. At the last moment Hinata dodged to the side out of the blows path, as she looked up she saw a disappointed look on Baki's face.

That disappointed look soon turned to shock as she pivoted and dodged once more allowing a fist to materialise in the space she once occupied. With a crack a tree several meters away that was in a direct path with that fist exploded in a shower of splinters.

In the brief moment in which Baki was stunned by her dodge Hinata let chakra start to coil in her fingers before lashing out at baki's right leg.

" **Ni Ren Kugi Punch"** (2 Hit Nail Punch)

Hinata watched as Baki's leg buckled under the first hit and then cracked under the second hit as he fell roaring in pain. While she would have liked to inflict three hits, there simply wasn't the time to prepare it so two would do.

"Gah, you bitch!" He yelled as he lashed out with his other hand in fury.

Having discovered the secret behind his Kieru Ken it was a simple matter to dodge the blow and land a solid kick straight to his face, sending him crashing boneless to the floor.

Sparing a moment to look at her health Hinata could see that she was under two thirds.

"It's over; you won't be able to put any pressure on that leg. If you give up now, I guarantee you will be treated humanely, which is more than can be said for how you treated Kasumi-chan," She said with some heat.

All of a sudden Baki began to laugh with a hollow smirk on his face as he stood up.

"Give up, don't make me laugh," he sneered adjusting his weight off of his injured leg. "That's the difference between you and I, I'm a real Shinobi. The world's not going to stop trying to do you in just because you have an injury, you can't just request a time out."

"Subaru and Tsubaki, they both understand this. Where we are from, we are hunted and despised," he said shaking his head in disgust. "Cursed by our village for something we have absolutely no control over," he said as he began to hop on one leg.

"So if you think I've never had to fight with an injury before, you would be dead wrong."

Hinata felt her fists clench in anger as she watched him speak, slowly she could feel her rage building until she was forced to speak.

"You think that's the only difference between us? Yes I may be a rookie, and I may not have my whole village against me, but that's no right to do this. I know someone who has to struggle every day of his life, and he doesn't give up," she said shaking her head. "In fact he is the kindest person I know, so using that as an excuse to terrorise these people is disgusting!"Hinata said panting as she got all of that off her chest.

"You-"

Hinata felt unease grow inside her as she watched Baki begin to tremble.

"-You have no idea what you're talking about!" he yelled.

"Kindness will get you nothing in this world! Where was kindness when we were used by the people we trusted most and then thrown away!" his eyes flashed with rage as his shoulders continued to tremble.

"We were fools, optimistic fools who thought we could liberate Kiri, make it a better place for everyone... hahaha. What a joke..." as he began speaking Hinata noticed that he was preparing his remaining chakra for something and started making hand seals of her own.

"In the end we were discarded like yesterday's trash, so don't tell me about kindness. I will take what I want from this world and there is not a damn thing you can do about it, so let's stop waxing poetic and finish this."

While he had been talking Hinata had time to finish layering her genjutsu, she knew Baki was not going to give up without a fight.

She could see a good portion of his remaining chakra was pushed to his other leg a he hopped on the ground. Suddenly he exploded from the ground in a mighty leap straight towards her.

Had she not faced the dangers of the Rabbit dungeon she may have been unprepared for this tactic. But unfortunately for the missing nin she had faced those more competent in this style and won.

Channelling chakra to her legs Hinata was intent on ending this with one clash.

"It's over," Baki shouted as he rocketed forward.

Hinata met him head on and lashed out with a palm strike aimed directly at his head.

"Too slow as usual," Baki taunted as he was about to use the opening to finish her aiming a chakra enhanced blow right at her exposed neck.

" **Kieru Ken: Shokku no Eikyo"** Baki roared in triumph, his victory assured only for dark spots to suddenly cloud his vision, disorientating him enough to miss the strike.

"But, how?" he gasped in confusion as he saw Hinata bare down on him once again.

"You're right, it is over," Hinata declared as he rained thrust after thrust down on her defenceless opponent closing all of his Tenketsu.

Baki could only stare wide eyed as he felt all his strength leave his body. He looked forward to see Hinata still standing strong in anticipation of another attack, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Put that stern face away today is your win baby Ninja," he said as he fell backwards landing on his back, with barely enough strength to twitch.

"I-I did it," Hinata said barely believing it.

 **Ichiro Baki**

 **Title: The Swift Monk**

 **Level: 18**

 **HP: 500**

 **CP: 200**

 **Strength: 35**

 **Dexterity: 30**

 **Agility: 20**

 **Vitality: 20**

 **Intelligence: 20**

 **Wisdom: 20**

 **Charisma: 25**

 **Status**

 **Missing nin- Kirigakure**

 **Description**

 **Baki is a former Genin from Kirigakure, he and his team were rising stars and would have achieved the rank of Chunin if not for the beginning of the Bloodline purges. Initially Baki fought for the Kiri rebels with the goal of creating a kinder, safer Kiri for future generations. His dream was once to help kiri shed the title Bloody Mist once and for all. Baki and his team claim to have been abandoned and now bear a deep grudge against the Kiri rebels and _ _ in particular.**

 **EXP Earned: 2000**

 **Drops: Bounty slip, Jutsu scroll (Katon:Endan)**

"But tell me, I dodged that blow, how did you beat me?"

Seeing no point in lying at this stage Hinatadecided to satisfy her opponent's curiosity "Genjutsu: Shinkiro, a D rank genjutsu that allows the user to create a simple mirage," She clarified.

Seeing the confusion on her opponent's face she elaborated "Such as making it seem like my reach is shorter than it actually is..."

Baki paused for a moment to blink, before a weak chuckle escaped his lips. "Beaten by a brat fresh from the academy, using a D rank jutsu to boot, lady luck sure has a poor sense of humour. Well I'm satisfied, finish it."

Walking up beside her prone opponent Hinata allowed her hand to visibly flare with Chakra as she reached down to hover right above his heart.

"I could end you right now you know, for hurting all these people, I would be completely justified."

"Then what are you waiting for," Baki sighed.

"Because it wouldn't be the right thing to do." She said lifting her hand away. "I was so mad earlier, I wanted nothing more than to teach you a lesson, and I've done that. But also you were right, I don't know what you've been through" she admitted as she shook her head.

"But I do know that the only thing killing you will accomplish is perpetuating the cycle of hatred, if I want to end the cycle of hatred within my own clan, then I need to be the better person."

"All that's going to do is get you killed one day, so are you sure that's your answer?"

"That may be so, but that's my decision. That person I told you about earlier, if I were to kill you I think he would be pretty disappointed. Killing you would be the easy way out, and true courage is doing what is right not what is easy. So that my decision and I don't go back on my word, that's my Nindo, my ninja way,"

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **CHOICES**

 **OBJECTIVE: Assist team 8 or save Kasumi**

 **MAIN REWARD: 3 levels in the Compassion skill and 1 Charisma.**

 **STORY QUEST COMPLETED**

 **MY FIRST C RANK**

 **OBJECTIVE: Discover the reason for the disappearing shipments**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Capture Baki Alive**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Gain Kazumi's Trust**

 **MAIN REWARD: 1500 EXP, 1500 RYO**

 **BONUS REWARD: 1 Perk point**

 **BONUS REWARD: Exalted reputation with Kaori Village**

 **Juken has increased by 1**

 **Juken has increased by 1**

 **Byakugan has increased by 1**

 **Kugi Punch has increased by 1**

* * *

 **You have awakened HP and CP restored**

With bleary eyes Hinata sat up in her bed and yawned, the last few days had been a whirlwind of activities. After her fight had concluded, Hinata did not have to wait very long for her sensei to drop down and congratulate her on her victory.

Apparently she had sent Shadow Clones to collect the rest of her team and escort Kazumi back to the village.

Once they had returned, captives in tow they were greeted as saviours by the entire community. Apparently Kazumi had informed everyone about what was happening.

For a while Hinata had been afraid the village would turn on Kazumi, but to her surprise all the adults were nothing but apologetic that she had to endure that all by herself.

As a result team 8 had achieved a celebrity status in the community, when she had attempted to pay for the tea order she had to pick up, the merchant had refused payment.

When she tried to argue the merchant had put his foot down, saying one of the children rescued was his son. His son's life was worth more than a few tea leaves and that she was welcome to take the entire stock if she wanted.

Feeling embarrassed due to the praise Hinata ended up haggling the man back up so that she would only take the original order. Unfortunately he was having none of that so she also came out of the deal with an antique tea set included as well; it was a most peculiar experience.

"Grrrrrrr," Unfortunately Hinata's own stomach betrayed her when thinking about that discount on Cinnamon buns.

Things had progressed well for her teammates as well; Shino, who was normally so reserved, was forced to endure the multitude of people who wanted to get into his personal space to thank him. It brought a smile to Hinata's face when she heard that a few of the local girls had taken a fancy to him, much to Kiba's irritation.

Well at first anyway, Kiba was soon mollified when Kazumi turned up to tend to his wounds personally since he was the most injured of the three.

On the topic of injuries, that was something she promised to explain to her teammates when they returned to Konoha, it did not escape their notice how quickly she recovered from both of their encounters with the missing nin.

However after several days of recuperating, today was the day they would make the journey back to Konoha, with their captives in tow.

Soon enough Hinata had her things packed and met up with her team outside the inn. However her team was not alone, as they were met by Kazumi and her father as well.

Since the rescue mission the team had not seen doctor Yamada as he too had been recuperating from his ordeal. Thus it was to their surprise that the first thing he did was assume the Dogeza position.

"Thank you, from the bottom of my heart I thank you," he said with his head still resting on the ground. "This medicine that was created to save lives only became a source of pain and regret, it almost cost me and the village so many of our sons and daughters. From this moment on, every life this medicine saves will be because of your actions today," he said as he raised his head from the ground and looked at each member of team 8 in the eyes.

"Thank you."

At first Hinata felt embarrassed, her cheeks became warm and she began to shift on the spot. But no matter what she did she couldn't take her eyes of the heartfelt display in front of her.

Tears of joy ran down doctor Yamada's face and it looked like with each tear years seemed to fade away.

When they rescued him he had looked so tired and fearful. Not for himself, but for his daughter and for the village. That a symbol of peace he created may be used for nefarious purposes.

Now however, he looked free.

"Mark my words, Konoha's hospitals will always remain fully stocked, it's the least I can do."

For a moment Hinata shut her eyes.

Deep in her chest she embraced the warm feeling of pride that came over her, they had made a difference.

By themselves any one of them would have failed, but together they had managed to preserve the peace of this village.

"Me too," Kazumi said as she joined her father.

"You all did more than save this place, you gave us the most precious gift imaginable," she said smiling brightly.

"Hope."

"Well of course, that's what Shinobi are supposed to do." Kiba said with a huff in an attempt to hide his own blush. "We protect those that can't protect themselves, so if you're ever in any trouble just shout and we will be there in a flash." he boasted.

It wasn't long before Kazumi was forced to raise a hand to her face to stifle the giggles that were about to burst forth due to Kiba's macho proclamation. Soon enough the dam broke an Kazumi broke into a joyous laugh that caused Kiba to blush right to the tips of his ears.

"My hero," Kazumi said as she walked over to give him a light peck on the cheek, that almost made Kiba perform a Hinata trademark faint.

"But I can't keep relying on you guys, so I decided," she said puffing her chest out. "I'm going to train to become a doctor, so that when you all get injured I'll be able to patch you right up."

"We will look forward to that day then," Shino said showing his support.

"But until then I'm going to have to train you hard to make sure you don't fall behind," Kurenai said getting a chorus of 'yes' from her team.

* * *

Soon enough team 8 was at the entrance of the town, with their surprisingly placid captives in tow.

It seemed that the whole town had arrived to see them off with a deafening cheer.

In the midst of the voices various chants could be heard.

'Thank you'

'You will always be welcome here'

'Heroes'

The three Genin could not help but be proud of their achievements as the town saw them off.

Right in the centre of it all were the children, Kazumi, and her father.

With a final wave Team 8 made their way from the village, the sounds of cheering could still be heard even when the village was no longer in sight.

The battles may have been hard fought, but they were worth it.

And thus their first C rank mission drew to a close. C rank turned B rank that is; Hinata doubted any other Genin team would be that unlucky during their first real mission.

* * *

 **Hyūga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyūga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 14 Exp to next level 4356/4664**

 **HP: 380/440**

 **CP: 300/510**

 **Strength: 23 (10)**

 **Dexterity: 47 (4.23) (10)**

 **Agility: 30 (3) (10)**

 **Vitality: 24 (10)**

 **Intelligence: 26 (10)**

 **Wisdom: 42 (3.78) (10)**

 **Charisma: 9**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 42**

 **Perk: 1**

 **Ryo: 10590**

 **Available Perks**

 **Chakra Nature Water- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Wind- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Fire- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Earth- 1 point**

 **Chakra Nature Lightning- 1 point**

 **Black Widow- Increased damage against the opposite sex by 25%- 1 point**

 **Lady Killer- Increased damage against the same sex by 25%- 1 point**

 **Explorer- able to bring up a mini map and advanced HUD- 1 point**

 **Vitality- additional 10 HP per level- 1 point**

 **Scavenger- Increase the likelihood of rarer drops - 1 point**

 **Paramour- Unlocks advanced reputation menu, + 5 Charisma – 1 point**

 **Advent of the Byakugan no Hime- Automatically see through Genjutsu C rank and below, increase range bonus per level in the Byakugan skill from 50 to 100. – 2 point**

* * *

 **Reputation**

 **Kohoha Shinobi**

Neutral

16/1000

 **Konoha Civilians**

Neutral

0/1000

 **Hyūga Main Family**

Disliked

0/1000

 **Hyūga Branch Family**

Friendly

20/1000

 **Hyūga Hiashi**

Disliked

0/1000

 **Hyūga Hanabi**

Friendly

70/1000

 **Hyūga Neji**

Hated

0/1000

 **Uzumaki Naruto**

Friendly

90/1000

 **Uchiha Sasuke**

Disliked

0/1000

 **Haruno Sakura**

Disliked

970/1000

 **Yamanaka Ino**

Neutral

0/1000

 **Akamichi Chouji**

Neutral

0/1000

 **Nara Shikamaru**

Neutral

0/1000

 **Inuzuka Kiba**

Friendly

150/1000

 **Aburame Shino**

Friendly

150/1000

 **Yuhi Kurenai**

Honoured

560/1000

 **Iroh**

Friendly

11/1000

 **Lu Ten**

Friendly

0/1000

 **Might Gai**

liked

80/1000

 **Rock Lee**

liked

80/1000

 **Yamada Ishin**

Exalted

1000/1000

 **Yamada Kazumi**

Exalted

1000/1000

 **Kaori Village**

Exalted

1000/1000

* * *

 **Authors notes**

Hello everyone I hope you all enjoyed this chapter my first one to break the 10k word count. Some good news to start with, I have a new beta reader. So I hope everyone gives a warm welcome to Kindasortastantheman, he really helped to clean up this chapter to a big thanks to him. I had to go back and correct what I can only assume were a few Americanisms that he edited into the document, but oh well nobody is perfect. I won't hold it against anyone for using that affront to the queen's speech that you yanks call dialect.

Of course I kid, but its fun getting to play the British card every now and then. Even if our own government is trying to self destruct at the moment, another similarity we have with our cousins across the pond unfortunately.

On to lighter topics I have to say while this chapter was fun to write, damn was it tough to do three big fights in one chapter. Speaking of the fights how did you guys enjoy them, heck how did you enjoy this arc? This was the first of several original arcs throughout the story so I would really appreciate some feedback on people's thoughts about this C rank mission.

But the fun is not over yet, it's not going to be too long before the arc that is the graveyard of most Naruto stories, the Chunin exams. Got some good stuff planned for that arc so look forward to it.

One last thing before I go for you awesome readers that actually read my ramblings right to the end. For the first time I will be leaving what perk Hinata picks next completely up to the readers. Note that the only perks you can't vote for are the chakra natures as this was decided earlier in the story via a reader poll (Water was the winner). However all the others are up for grabs, if you pick the 2 cost perk then she will get it as soon as she gets another perk point. If you would like to vote then make sure to leave your choice in a review, Hinata will be buying her perk in the next chapter.

Once again that note, once more a big thanks to Kindasortastantheman for beta reading this chapter, see you next time.


	15. Chapter 15

Hinata Hyūga: A Gamers Potential

"And that concludes our report Hokage-sama," Kurenai said as she finished recounting their adventure in Kaori Village.

It was only due to the many years of experience in his position that prevented Hiruzen from letting out a long suffering sigh.

The situation in Kirigakure is worsening, this will surely catch Danzo's attention, Hiruzen thought.

"Hokage-sama, is something the matter?" Kurenai questioned, snapping Hiruzen out of his musings.

"Forgive an old man and his musings," he said as he took a drag of his pipe. "It's not everyday that you encounter a missing nin, let alone three on your first mission outside of the village. I hope this does not turn into a recurring problem," he said with levity.

"I think we can safely say this mission was an anomaly rather than the norm Hokage-sama," Kurenai said with a shake of her head.

"I should think Naruto-kun will be most disappointed that your first C rank was more eventful than his, it may turn out that you will have to console him Hinata," Hiruzen said with a chuckle as he saw Hinata blush slightly.

"U-um Hokage-sama, where is Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned.

"Team 7 left the village yesterday on their own C rank mission to Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves). He was quite disappointed that he was unable to see you before heading off. He claimed to have a surprise to show you, he was adamant that you would be the first to see. He wouldn't even show me before he left," Hiruzen chuckled.

"Um, I apologise on Naruto-kuns behalf Hokage-sama," Hinata said with a small bow.

Letting out a deep laugh Hiruzen whipped a tear from his eye, "There is no need for apologies, that boy is as stubborn and fiery as his..." Hiruzen began stopping abruptly.

"Hokage-sama?" Hinata asked seeing their leader become solemn for a moment.

"It's nothing; I suppose I would say he was as stubborn and fiery as a Habanero," He said while chuckling to himself. "Fiery and spirited."

"You mean loud and obnoxious right," Kiba said only to receive a warning look from Kurenai.

"Well, that is one way to put it," Hiruzen said jovially. "Now I would like to congratulate team 8 on a successful mission that was completed beyond normal parameters. This will go down as a B rank mission on you file, unfortunately we only received payment of C rank from the client so your pay will remain unchanged. However you will receive an extra payment for delivering the three enemy combatants alive, please see requisitions down the hall for the bounty. Dismissed."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Team 8 chorused as they exited the office.

"You hear that guy's, B rank," Kiba said jumping up and down. "I can't wait to rub that in Naruto and Sasuke's faces."

"Kiba," Kurenai said, interrupting his jubilation. "There is a little thing we like to call humility."

"Ah come on sensei, let me have this," Kiba pleaded, trying and failing to use the legendary puppy dog eyes no jutsu. "Besides we will be able to lord this over them for years, none of us are going to see an A ranked mission till we are Chunin at least."

Kurenai gave him an exasperated look before stopping in front of the requisitions office.

It took a few minutes but team 8 received their pay, 1700 Ryo for the mission and an additional 4500 Ryo from the bounties they collected.

Just as they were about to leave Hinata remembered the bounty slip she acquired.

"Um, excuse me," she said to gain the Chunins attention, as she reached into her jacket pretending to get the slip from there while really accessing her inventory.

"I found this bounty slip when we captured the missing nin, do I need to hand this in here?"

"Well, I have not seen one of these in a long time," The Chunin said as he carefully handled the slip. "We used to use bounty slips like this around 10 years ago, now though we don't use them. It used to be that you would insert them into an automated machine that would dispense a voucher to cash in at the local bank. We actually put the machine in the academy so that you rookies could see how things used to be. Why don't you go and take a look?"

 **NEW QUEST CREATED**

 **BOUNTY MACHINE**

 **OBJECTIVE: Find the bounty machine at the academy.**

 **Reward: 100 exp**

 **Y/N**

After accepting the quest and thanking him for the information team 8 prepared to part ways before Hinata brought them to a halt.

"I know we have the next few days off but c-could we meet tomorrow, I have some things that I want to tell everyone," Hinata said seriously.

Hinata noticed Kurenai send her a questioning look, but she nodded in affirmation.

"Okay team, we will meet at our training grounds at the usual time tomorrow. Go home for now and get some rest.

* * *

Hinata found herself slowly making her way to deliver Iroh's tea order as she played with the bounty slip in her hand. It was a welcome distraction as her stomach was twisting itself into knots as she worried about telling the rest of her team her secret.

Slowly but surely she began to calm down when she thought about how welcoming her team had been thus far. The three of them had not interacted overly much at the academy, but she was already starting to think of them as a second family.

As she turned round the corner Iroh's shop came into sight. She quickly ducked into an alley in order to remove the tea from her inventory before she made her way to the door.

As she opened the door of the shop she was hit with the soothing fragrance of lemongrass that danced through the air.

"Ah, Hinata-chan welcome back," Iroh said as he emerged from the back. "Come sit, I will get you a nice cup of tea to soothe the body and relax the mind."

"Sometimes I wonder if you will ever get sick of tea Iroh-san," Hinata said with a giggle as she was confronted by Iroh's mortified expression.

"Sick of tea, that's like being sick of breathing!" he said with a shake of his head.

"Speaking of tea, here is your order-" Hinata said as she handed him the large parcel. "-And here is your money."

"But this looks like the whole amount I gave you?" Iroh questioned.

"I may have gotten a better deal than I initially thought," Hinata said.

"I suspect there is a story in there somewhere," Iroh responded with a raised brow.

* * *

A few hours later Hinata ended up leaving the shop after recounting her tale over several hot cups of tea, and a few cinnamon laced droplets of heaven.

 **INDIVIDUAL QUEST COMPLETED**

 **QUEST: Purchase and deliver Iroh's tea order**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Haggle and receive a 10% discount**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Receive a 25% discount**

 **MAIN REWARD: 200 EXP, 200 Reputation with Iroh, 250 RYO**

 **BONUS REWARD: 100 EXP, 50 Reputation with Iroh**

 **BONUS REWARD: 10% Lifetime discount on all goods**

 **By obtaining a 100% discount you have far exceeded expectations 200 reputation with Iroh.**

Hinata had a spring in her step as she made her way to the academy. By now all the teachers and students had gone home, so she was able to waltz right into the atrium where an old fashioned vending machine stood.

It looked more like the sort of machine you would get a drink or some snacks from rather than a bounty post. But then again perhaps that had been the point, though she could imagine many academy students attempting to get snacks from the machine only to be disappointed.

Well it was now or never, Hinata thought as she placed her bounty slip up to the mouth of the machine.

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **BOUNTY MACHINE**

 **OBJECTIVE: Find the bounty machine at the academy.**

 **Reward: 100 exp**

You have levelled up.

 **Hyūga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Hyūga Clan Heir (Plus 10% experience gain to Juken and Byakugan techniques)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 15 Exp to next level 92/5830**

 **HP: 440/440**

 **CP: 530/530**

 **Strength: 23 (10)**

 **Dexterity: 49 (4.41) (10)**

 **Agility: 30 (3) (10)**

 **Vitality: 24 (10)**

 **Intelligence: 27 (10)**

 **Wisdom: 43 (3.87) (10)**

 **Charisma: 9**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 48**

 **Perk: 2**

 **Ryo: 17040**

That quest had just been enough to level up, and hitting level 15 had granted her an extra perk point like hitting level 5 and 10 had.

As the machine accepted the bounty slip, Hinata was greeted with a notification by her ability.

 **Bounty machine**

 **Bounty slips can be dropped by enemies that have been entered into the bingo book. You may turn these slips into any bounty machine you encounter. By doing this you may accrue bounty points, once a sufficient amount of bounty points have been accumulated you will receive a prize.**

 **As you accumulate more bounty points more rewards will become visible, you can check your progress by using the Bounty screen which has been added to your menu options.**

 **The higher the ranking the more points a bounty affords, the point totals are as followed.**

 **C Rank – 1**

 **B Rank – 2**

 **A Rank – 3**

 **S Rank – 5**

 **Bounty rewards can offer some extremely rare items, some that have been lost to the passages of time and some from different planes of existence. It would be in your best interest to collect as many as you can.**

Well that was interesting Hinata thought as she watched the machine process her slip. Eventually the screen confirmed her entry of one C Rank bounty. The current rewards available to her were all quite reasonable in her mind.

1 point – 1 Perk point

3 points- 10000 EXP

5 points – Ring of regeneration

10 Points – Suiton: Suikodan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Jutsu)

With the first bounty claimed Hinata noticed that the perk point had become greyed out, and checking her status screen confirmed that she did indeed have 3 perk points to spend.

She had been thinking about what to spend her points on recently, and while it did sound a bit grandiose she did like the sound of Advent of the Byakugan no Hime. It seemed ironic considering what lengths she had to go to in order to unlock her own Byakugan. In fact it was probably time for her to reveal the fact that she had unlocked her Byakugan, the only people who currently knew were her team and Naruto.

Having made the decision, she spent two of her precious perk points on the best option available. The increased range bonus was nice, but if the other part of the perk worked like she thought it did this would be invaluable.

The ability to see through all Genjutsu C rank and below, what the perk did not say was that her Byakugan needed to be active to take effect. In theory she would have immunity even without her bloodline active, this would be something she would need to test.

After buying the perk she noticed that a new one had become available on her perk screen.

 **Rise of the Byakugan no Hime – Automatically see through Genjutsu B rank and below, increase the range bonus per level in the Byakugan skill from 100 to 200, gain an additional 10 CP and HP per level (Requirement level 18)- 3 points.**

Well that perk certainly looked interesting, this was the first time buying a perk unlocked a more powerful version. Hinata had to wonder if any of her other perks available would do something like that.

It was also the first time a perk came with a requirement for purchasing. She would need to think about what to spend her last point on, with how slow perk points were to acquire she was quite tempted just to purchase one of the single point cost ones.

At any rate, it was time to head home. Her father would no doubt want to hear about the result of her first C rank mission.

* * *

 **Omake**

Two small arms strained with all their might to reach the bowl on the counter top. This one was her Tou-chan's favourite, the one with little green toads hopping up and down around the sides of the bowl.

With a huff the small figure attempted to jump up to snatch the bowl from the counter. With a gleeful grin she clasped it in her hand not realising she had overextended herself as she fell to the floor.

"Himawari!" Came the voice of a blond haired bullet that dashed forward to cushion her fall.

"Onii-chan," said the voice of Uzumaki Himawari as she smirked from her position on top of her older brother.

Himawari the daughter of Naruto and Hinata Uzumaki was four years old and the splitting image of her mother at her age, but with her father's ocean blue eyes, chubby cheeks and whisker marks.

"Hima... get off me!" her brother shouted from beneath her as he struggled to get free.

"Sorry Boruto-nii."

On the other hand Boruto was six years old and the splitting image of his father, blond hair as well as a cheeky grin. He would often get annoyed by people saying it was like looking at a younger Naruto.

"Himawari, what were you doing out here?" Boruto asked his sister.

"Well..." Himawari said as she got up from her brothers back. "It's Tou-chan's birthday today, and I didn't know what to get him so I thought what does Tou-chan love most in the world after me and Kaa-chan-"

"Hey!" her brother snapped.

"-Ramen!" Himawari giggled excitedly.

"Mmm, Ichiraku's..." Boruto said as he began to drool at the thought.

"So I thought, let's make Tou-chan breakfast ramen," she said with a proud smirk on her face.

Scrunching up his face in thought Boruto had to admit that it was a pretty good idea. "You know that's not bad. Tou-chan and Kaa-chan are always really tired and sweaty in the mornings; I can't believe that they spar that many times a week."

"Yea people always say how Tou-chan is the strongest in the village, but Kaa-chan must be even stronger because it always looks like she wins their fights. Tou-chan is always groaning when he loses,"

"Yea Kaa-chan is the strongest. Tou-chan is stronger than Kakashi-jiji, and Kaa-chan is stronger than Tou-chan," Boruto said as he nodded his head in profound understanding.

"But that means they're gonna be hungry right?" Himawari added.

"Yea, let's get started," Boruto grinned triumphantly before realising. "By the way how do you make ramen?"

* * *

Uzumaki Hinata stretched out with a satisfied grin on her face as she looked over at her husband who was completely spent beside her; all those points in vitality had been well spent in her opinion.

"Damn Hinata that was something else," he praised as he leaned over to give his wife a peck on the lips, as he tuned out Kurama cursing about Uzumaki women and their monstrous stamina.

Meanwhile Hinata proceeded to blush a cherry red at her husband's praise.

"Man I can't wait to brag to Kakashi-sensei, you even did that thing from page 174 of Icha-Icha tactics. Sensei has been trying to get someone to do that for years," Naruto said earning a disapproving look from his wife.

"Naruto-kun, what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom," she said firmly.

"Yes dear," Naruto replied.

Just as the amorous duo were about to cuddle back together for a few more minutes, they heard a clanging noise coming from the kitchen.

Immediately Naruto was up and Hinata had her Byakugan active.

"Hinata," Naruto asked urgently, only to relax as he saw his wife deactivate her Byakugan.

"Relax it's just Boruto and Himawari," Hinata confided. "It looks like they are trying to make you breakfast."

Naruto let out a cheesy grin as he went to the bed and swept Hinata up into his arms, eliciting a small 'eep' from the woman.

"A beautiful wife, fantastic kids, man this day couldn't get any better."

* * *

After getting changed Naruto and Hinata made their way to the kitchen where they were greeted by a cry of, 'Happy Birthday' from their two children.

"Tou-chan, Tou-chan look what Boruto-nii and I made for you," Himawari said with a big grin.

"Ramen, Ramen!" Boruto shouted excitedly.

"Wow it looks... unique," Naruto said as he gulped.

"Well we didn't have all the ingredients..." Boruto trailed off. "But I'm sure it tastes good, we added all your favourites."

"Yea, we used chicken stock, beans, and no tomatoes only teme likes those," Himawari giggled as Naruto sheepishly tried to avoid Hinata's piercing gaze.

"Yea we also added some onion and some barbeque sauce," Claimed Boruto.

So far it didn't sound too bad, but then why was it orange?

"But, Boruto-nii is really smart," Himawari praised. "We were out of noodles so we added strawberry liquorice."

"Yea and Tou-san likes orange, so we added some orange juice," Boruto said proudly as they both started to rattle off all the ingredients they used. Each one making Naruto's face turn a shade paler.

"Eat up Tou-chan!" they both exclaimed happily.

Not knowing what to expect Hinata activated her observe skill to see what the kids cooked up. Hinata blinked, and then blinked again. She had not expected this, Anko would have been proud to use this in one of her interrogations.

Hinata's arm quickly lashed out to grip Naruto's wrist as he was about to eat the first spoonful of the sizzling concoction, wait sizzling when did it start to do that?

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said in a quivering voice, her eyes conveying the message only a true soul mate could understand.

Naruto's eyes widened a fraction before he shook his head softly.

"I need to eat the breakfast made for me by my two wonderful children," he said much to Boruto and Himawari's delight.

Hinata could only nod her head in understanding as she choked back a sob.

Carefully Naruto took the first spoon into his mouth as he felt Kurama rage in fear in the back of his mind.

Gulp.

With a strained smile he looked at his children staring wide eyed at him. He knew he would not have the fortitude for a prolonged battle. His Jinchuriki enhanced stamina was no match for this opponent, he needed to end this fast.

He picked up the bowl and started to chug, feeling each gulp as it slid towards his stomach. Only the delighted stares of his children urged him on.

Eventually he was done and he put the bowl down. He lifted a shaking hand and ruffled Boruto and Himawari's hair.

"Gochisousama Deshita." (That was delicious)

"Yay!" the kids cheered and high fived in delighted that their father had enjoyed the food.

"Kids why don't you go and play in your room while I clean up," Hinata said desperately holding back her tears.

"Okay," they said as they happily ran from the room.

"N-naruto-kun?" Hinata tentatively asked.

Naruto was sat in his seat with his arms crossed in front of him with a strained look on his face. Rivers of sweat had started to run down his brow and his eyes had become red and bloodshot.

"It was delicious," he grunted out.

Carefully he moved to get up but found that all strength in his legs had failed him as he crashed to the floor.

Hinata swore that she saw his eyes literally start to spin and his mouth foam.

"It was delicious..." he began as his body started to spasm.

"Naruto-kuuuuuuuuuuun!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Once again a big thanks to Kindasortastantheman for beta reading this, it was a bit of a short one, sorry about that. The reason being is I am off on holiday on Thursday and honestly have not had time to write much in the last couple of weeks, however I wanted you guys to have a little something before I went away.

As you can tell by this chapter Advent of the Byakugan no Hime was the most voted perk, shortly followed by explorer.

Now quick question for you guys how did you like the omake at the end? I am not the most confident when it comes to writing humour so I would really appreciate your input. Did you enjoy it, would you like more every now and then or oh god stop this madness now?

Anyway please fave and review, till next time.


	16. Chapter 16

Hinata Hyūga: A Gamers Potential

Hiruzen arched his shoulders in relief as team 8 left his office, at his age putting on an official air took its toll on his back. But appearances had to be maintained after all; still he appreciated the opportunity to interact with the younger generation, even if his old bones needed a break.

Looking out of the window to his office he could see that once again it was a beautiful day in Konoha. The pale golden rays of sunlight that illuminated all of the buildings gave the village a feeling of warmth and safety. He could smell the scent of the trees as they waved to and fro on the warm breeze, if he closed his eyes he could almost imagine he was somewhere else, enjoying his retirement perhaps.

Alas that was not to be, he thought as he rubbed his brows in frustration.

Opening his eyes once more he cast his gaze onto the Hokage monument which stood testament to the village's leadership.

 _Hashirama-sensei, you were hailed as the God of Shinobi, it as through your vision that the village even stands today,'_ Hiruzen thought.

 _Tobirama-sensei, it was your tireless work that smoothed out the logistics of the village system and gave us the measure of stability we have today._

 _Minato-kun._

Hiruzen sighed, deeply and heavily, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

 _All of you died before your time, now all that's left is this old man who is well past his prime. War is a terrible thing; I hope with all my heart that the new leaves of this village do not have to pay for the mistakes of an old man like me._

Wearily Hiruzen reached into his desk and pulled out a small pot of tobacco which he carefully loaded into his pipe. Placing his index finger over the tobacco, he released a small and controlled burst of chakra that ignited the material.

"Tobacco igniting exercise successful," he said chuckling to himself and reminiscing over Tsunade's expression when he tried to justify the exercise as a legitimate chakra control exercise.

Before he could get too caught up in the memories a knock at the door interrupted him.

Letting out a small sigh, Hiruzen straightened himself up a bit and was about to reach to put out his pipe before he thought better of himself.

 _I'm the Hokage damnit, if I want to smoke in my own village then that's what I'll do_ , he thought as he nodded his head in conviction.

"Come in," he said as he beckoned the person into the room.

Slowly the door opened to admit someone he had not been expecting to see today.

"Hokage-sama," said the calm and calculated voice of Shimura Danzo.

Hiruzen stared at him for a moment, trying to work out what the purpose for this meeting could be. Soon enough he gestured his former teammate inside.

"Danzo," Hiruzen greeted with a nod of his head as acknowledgement. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Danzo slowly made his way into the office before gingerly taking the offered seat in front of Hiruzen, using his cane to evenly distribute his weight as he sat.

Hiruzen truly had to fight the urge to roll his eyes in response to Danzo's 'frail old man' act. While his injuries themselves were very real he would need to be several banana's short of a split to buy into the feeble routine.

After getting himself settled Danzo spoke in a soft and measured voice. "I hear rumours that a new Genin team have managed to apprehend three bloodline users from Kirigakure."

The way it was posed let Hiruzen know full well that this was a statement and not a question.

Narrowing his eyes somewhat he responded "and how pray tell did you manage to happen upon this information, when I only learned of it mere moments ago?"

With a casual wave of his hand Danzo dismissed Hiruzen's concerns "You know how Shinobi are now a day Hokage-sama, most of them gossip like an old fishwife. Not like in our day when a secret was taken to the grave."

"Danzo," Hiruzen said sternly letting some of his killing intent flood the room.

The one visible eye that had been half lidded till now opened fully as Danzo responded in kind.

"Hokage-sama," as he too released his killing intent upon the room.

Hidden in the rafters the Anbu that were present all quickly reached for their weapons and were about to intervene when suddenly both men began to chuckle lightly as the killing intent dissipated.

Raising his hand and giving a symbol the Anbu in the room took their cue and left, only leaving the two old men left in the room.

"They were twitchier than I thought they'd be, Hiruzen," Danzo said as he carefully stroked the scar on his chin. "For a moment I thought they may actually attack."

"And whose fault would that've been Danzo?" Hiruzen chided.

Raising his one visible eyebrow Danzo mocked, "Oh my apologies, I did not realise I was the one to release my killing intent first."

Taking a long puff of his pipe Hiruzen slowly responded as a grin spread across his face. "Yes but you released your killing intent at your Kage," Hiruzen said smugly. "That could be considered an act of treason you know you old war hawk."

"As if you would try me for treason you senile old monkey," he said as both men stared each other down.

After a brief moment of tension a small barely visible smirk quirked on each mans lips.

"As fun as conversing with my old teammate is, I somehow doubt that you are here for a social call."

As Danzo nodded his head a serious vibe returned to the two veterans.

"I wish to request permission to make use of our newest assets," Danzo asked.

If Hiruzen seemed surprised he did not show it. "They have already been promised to Ibiki, if you want to have any involvement you will need to seek permission from him," Hiruzen deflected.

"Very well," Danzo nodded in understanding.

"You still have not told me about how you became aware of this," Hiruzen questioned.

"You know full well that I have various sources," Danzo countered.

"Sources that you refuse to disclose to your Kage," Hiruzen bit back.

"The light cannot be tainted by the shadows, you know this Hiruzen," Danzo countered. "How many times will we continue to have this same conversation?"

"As many times as is necessary, you fail to understand that we are no longer at war," Hiruzen pointed out.

"And you fail to understand that we will always be at war!" Danzo said as he thumped his cane on the ground with a droning thud.

"Danzo-"

"No Hiruzen, let me speak," Danzo interrupted. "Despite what the rest of the world thinks, Konoha is currently the weakest it has ever been. Since the Kyubi attack our forces have been devastated, apart from Suna we are clearly the weakest of the five villages, no matter our boasts of strength,"

"Konoha remains strong, the will of fire burns brightly in its people," Hiruzen said.

"The will of fire will not protect us when Kumo or Iwa are at our gates."

Hiruzen sighed in frustration; this was an argument the two teammates had on a regular basis. It was only due to some truths in the argument that Hiruzen turned a blind eye to some of Danzo's actions.

"Our tentative alliance with Suna and the civil unrest in Kiri is the only factor that stays Iwa and Kumo's hand, that and their belief in our supposed military superiority." Danzo said as his hand gripped his cane ever tighter.

"We still have many capable ninja under our employ," Hiruzen countered.

"Yes but no S ranked threats. We have two old men that are well past their prime, a lecher, and a drunk that are both off god knows where and Maito Guy, that is it." Danzo said.

Hiruzen frowned at the statement but knew it was an accurate assessment.

"We do have many shinobi who show the potential to attain that level of strength, Hatake Kakashi, Yuhi Kurenai and my son to name a few" Hiruzen said.

Danzo scoffed at Hiruzen's blissful naivety, this was why he was needed.

"A broken man who can't even look past his own pain; so desperate to recreate his old team that he is stunting his student's growth. A woman who has great potential, however she stubbornly refuses to use her own kekkei genkai. Finally a laze about who became demotivated because he couldn't live up to his father's standards, are these the candidates that you speak of?"

"And what would you have me do?" Hiruzen asked.

"Stop being so passive, your fear of igniting another war is only hindering the village," Danzo reasoned.

"And your fervour for war is unsettling old friend; the young ones of this village should not have to pay for our mistakes."

"And what will you do when war turns up at our doorstep?" Danzo asked.

"Then... then I will remind the world why I too am called the God of Shinobi," Hiruzen declared as shadows marred his face.

This was it; this was what he wanted to see. While he detested the phrase, truly it was apt to say that the will of fire burned strongly in his Kage's eyes. Hiruzen was too docile, but threaten his home and a fierce god would be awoken, the shackles of age would melt the old man away, and in his place would stand a warrior.

"Very well, then the matter is closed... for now." Danzo said. "Though we do have some promising new talent emerging," he continued.

"And who has caught your attention?" Hiruzen mused.

"Uchiha Saskue, while not as proficient as his brother he still shows potential. Hyūga Neji is being hailed as a genius but his growth is being stunted by clan bureaucracy."

"You know as well as I do that change needs to come from within the Hyūga Clan, that is one of the few spheres of influence where my power does not extend," Hiruzen explained.

Knowing all too well that Hiruzen was right Danzo continued.

"Uzumaki Naruto, at first I wrote the boy off after you refused to let me train him. However despite being handicapped throughout his education he has managed to learn a B ranked kinjutsu in a matter of hours. Not only that, but the boy somehow has managed to learn a sealess variation of the Shunshin no jutsu." Danzo said much to Hiruzen's surprise.

So that must be the secret he has been keeping, to think the boy was able to achieve that even with his monstrous chakra pool, Hiruzen thought.

"This shows an incredible aptitude for kinaesthetic learning, which combined with the shadow clones true ability, could propel him far. Something I notice Hatake is not taking advantage of," Danzo said pointedly.

Hiruzen could read between the lines, if you won't let me train him then get someone to do it competently.

"But the biggest surprise has been Hyūga Hinata, she is a diamond in the rough and I intend to monitor her more closely from now on," Danzo explained.

"Danzo!" Hiruzen said in a warning tone.

"No Hiruzen, you have made it clear that the Uzumaki is off limits, but a new crop of S ranked shinobi must be trained. For now I will keep my distance, but should she come to me..."

* * *

By the time Hinata made it back to the clan compound to look for her father she found that he was occupied in a meeting with the clan elders. While she tried to see the best in people, she could honestly say the elders were at fault for the clan's current distortion.

While she wanted to become clan head in order to fix the rift in her clan, she had no clue how to deal with the clan elders.

Sayako had taught her long ago how most of the clans in Konoha functioned. While one would be forgiven for thinking the Clan head held absolute authority within the clan, much like the Hokage did within Konoha, you would also be very much mistaken.

The Hokage's word was law; one of the few exceptions to this power was issues that pertained to clan secrets. This was enacted by the Shodai Hokage back when Konoha was founded in order to alleviate suspicions and concerns that clans had in joining the village.

As such there was a black spot in the Hokage's administrative authority. This gap in power was filled by the clan head and the clan council. This body would decide any matter pertaining to clan secrets, of which the caged bird seal classified.

In deciding what measures to undertake the clan head and the council made up of six elders would vote. The clan head held a voting power of four votes, the elders each accounted for one vote. Due to this it was impossible for a clan head to unilaterally make decisions that were unpopular with the clan. In theory this system of checks and balances was a good idea and had worked well for many other clans, however the elders of the Hyūga clan were so stuck in their ways that it was impossible for any change to occur.

Despite her father's strictness he actually began his tenure as head being quite liberal. However over the years his opposition to the elder's wishes had begun to wane.

It was with such thoughts that she found herself waiting in his office to report the success of her mission. She took a seat across from his desk and looked around the Spartan room.

To Hinata it seemed that her mother must have been the motivation he needed to continue his opposition. Now that she thought about it, his marrying outside the clan must have been an unpopular decision back then.

Her reminiscing soon turned to thoughts of her mother as she reached into her inventory to retrieve one of the songs she had discovered earlier.

Before she had not had the time, but for some reason being here it felt right to give it a try. She didn't know if she would be much of a singer but it would be nice to have another link to her mother.

Working up the courage to start Hinata took in a deep breath:

 _When you walk away_

 _You don't hear me say_

 _Please oh baby, don't go_

 _Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight_

 _It's hard to let it go_

 _You're giving me too many things_

 _Lately you're all I need_

 _You smiled at me and said,_

 _Don't get me wrong I love you_

 _But does that mean I have to meet your father?_

 _When we are older you'll understand_

 _What I meant when I said no,_

 _I don't think life is quite that simple_

So engrossed was she in the song that she did not notice the door opening behind her. If she had she would have seen her father's hand white knuckled on the door knob as he tried to regain his composure.

Clearing his throat Hinata was brought back to attention as she whirled round.

 **A new skill has been created Singing**

 **Singing: A skill of Bardic inspiration** **which can be used to bolster allies.**

 **You have learnt 'Simple and Clean' a song of longing, all who hear this song will have any violent emotions calmed, effectiveness increases with the level of the singing skill.**

 **Singings level has increased by 1**

 **Singings level has increased by 1**

 **Charisma increased by 1**

 **Singings level has increased by 1**

"Tou-sama," Hinata said in shock.

Hinata watched as her father walked round his desk to sit down; all the while his eyes were observing her intently. Despite the advances she had made, it was remarkable how all her insecurities seemed to rush to the surface just being in her father's presence.

"My daughter," Hiashi said calmly. "I see you have returned unharmed, I am pleased."

"Y-yes, I have returned from my first mission outside the village. My C ranked assignment was upgraded to B ranked due to the increased difficulty of the mission parameters," Hinata reported.

For a moment Hiashi seemed to just observe Hinata, making her feel like he was peeling her away layer by layer. She had to resist the urge to activate her Byakugan in response.

In fact why didn't she just activate it, she was sure her father would be impressed that she had finally done it? However something was keeping her from doing so, perhaps it was the thought of keeping a secret from her clan that boasted being all seeing.

"I see, and then please give me the full details of what you encountered," her father requested.

For the next few hours Hinata recounted the details of her mission, for the most part her father sat there quietly listening. Occasionally he would ask for further clarification but for the most part he let her continue uninterrupted.

Eventually she finished her report and let out a breath she had not realised she had been holding as she waited for his response.

"I see, very well. This will bring an increase in our clan's reputation; you should go and rest now."

That was it, no good work?

No I'm proud of you?

Inwardly Hinata couldn't believe it, just what would she have to do to get some acknowledgement? She could feel the chakra beginning to build up behind her eyes, and just as she was about to explode at her father for the first time, she noticed a message pop up.

 **Reputation increased with Hyūga Hiashi by 300**

What?

He was proud of her?

But then why didn't he say anything, it was so confusing?

Feeling a rare swell of confidence, Hinata acted on her emotions.

"Tou-sama, are you ashamed of me?"

If Hinata had not been watching him so keenly, she would have missed the almost imperceptible widening of his eyes.

"You are my daughter, what makes you ask such a thing,"

Shaking her head Hinata continued, "That's not an answer, are you ashamed of me?"

"As clan head I am pleased with your performance on this mission, however do not forget yourself by asking such questions."

Raising her head so that she was staring him square in the eyes Hinata continued.

"I don't care what the clan head thinks; I asked Tou-sama are you ashamed of me?"

If she didn't know any better she would have though she saw her father squirm slightly under her intense gaze.

"You have grown," Hiashi stated simply.

"Tou-sama?" Hinata questioned

"Until recently you would not have spoken to me so brazenly," Hiashi commented causing Hinata to blush slightly.

"I don't know if it was experiencing a life or death situation or your new interaction with the Uzumaki boy," He commented as he muttered 'so much like his mother' under his breath.

"You mean Uzumaki Kushina?" Hinata said making her father's head snap round so fast it looked like it would fly off.

"Where did you hear that name?" he demanded.

"I found a photo downstairs in storage of you on a team with her, I take it that is why the clan pays for Naruto-kuns housing?" she surmised.

After hearing his daughters statement Hiashi went through several hand seals and privacy seals appeared on the walls to his office.

"I see you have been snooping around," he commented.

"Hinata, what would you say is the Villages perception of Naruto?" Hiashi asked confusing his daughter.

"Naruto-kun seems to be hated for something. At first I thought it may have been his pranks but it's too vitriolic to be because of something that. Naruto-kun is a kind person, I don't know why he is treated that way," she said getting a nod of understanding from her father.

"And on the clan council what proportion of the vote can I reliably control?"

"Forty percent," Hinata answered before her eyes widened in realisation.

"I trust you not to talk about what you found outside of these walls," He said with a pointed look.

"But why is he treated that way?"

"That is an S ranked secret, the only people able to disclose that are the Hokage and Naruto himself," Hiashi answered.

"But what about his parents, why has nobody told him who they were at least," she said as she knew how secretly Naruto used to watch the children be picked up after the academy with longing in his eyes.

"That is also an S ranked secret," Hiashi confirmed.

"But you just confirmed who his mother was?" Hinata questioned.

"You were already aware of the situation, and it would be more accurate to say his father's identity is an S ranked secret,"

His father's identity was an S ranked secret why would that be?

For a moment she sat in thought, unaware of her father watching her intently a she puzzled it out.

The only reason she could think of was that his father had done something so horrific that the information needed to be censored, or that his father was so famous that the information was dangerous. Given how close Naruto was to the Hokage, she was inclined to think the latter.

However that could also be as a result of whatever the first secret was, she needed more information.

 **Your rational thought process has increased wisdom by 1**

"Tou-sama, you wouldn't happen to have any further information about your old Genin team and its members would you?" Hinata asked.

"Oh and why would you want that?"

"Curiosity, since becoming a genin I feel it would be wise to learn from my father's experience. Besides as you said the information about Uzumaki Kushina is not classified is it, so my professional curiosity should be no problem," she concluded.

Hiashi had to struggle to contain a smirk playing at his lips as he reached into a storage cabinet to retrieve some materials.

 **Reputation increased with Hyūga Hiashi by 100**

After he placed a small folder down on the desk, it was smaller than she was hoping for.

Seeing her disappointment Hiashi followed up by saying "I'm sure this will be sufficient for your academic purposes, any further research you should be able to discover on your own."

Nodding her head in thanks Hinata picked up the folder and prepared to head for the door when a voice stopped her.

"In answer to your original question, no I am not ashamed of you, I am ashamed of myself." He said as he sighed deeply and slumped further into his chair. "When I look at you I see the splitting image of your mother looking right back at me."

Hiashi raised his hand to forestall Hinata's attempt to speak as he continued.

"I know this is no excuse, it is nothing more than a product of my own weakness. As a result I have been... harsh with you in respect to your training. However there are facets about this clan that you are not aware of, I have done my best to shield you and your sister from the worst of it." He said shaking his head.

"Tou-sama?" Hinata questioned.

"Failings from my past and your apparent lack of skill with our clan's techniques have only exacerbated the situation. Your lack of the Byakugan is detrimental and has caused some dissenting voices to gain strength."

"In short, I am proud of you even if I struggle to show it. You were blessed with the best parts of your mother, but were also cursed with my own weakness. I struggle to show the proper affection you and your sister deserve... for that I can only beg your forgiveness," He said as he bowed his head forward.

Hinata was completely stunned; she had played this encounter out in her head many times. Only in her wildest imagination did she think it would end with her father bowing his head down to her in apology.

"Rather than forgiveness perhaps we can work on mending our relationship... together," Hinata said smiling gently.

Raising his head Hiashi could be forgiven for mistaken Hinata's smiling face for that of his late wife's.

What a fool I have been, so concerned with safeguarding her future that I almost destroyed our own relationship. But despite her enthusiasm without the Byakugan I am unsure if my protection will be enough, he thought.

Drained from the conversation Hinata bid her father goodbye as she turned to open the door with a spring in her step.

Just before she stepped through she turned her head to face her father.

"By the way Tou-sama, if it's about the Byakugan-"she said as she channelled a stream of chakra to her eyes causing the veins to protrude and her sight to sharpen many times over "-that shouldn't be an issue."

Closing the door behind her and deactivating her eyes Hinata could hear a mirthful chuckle from behind the door as she walked away, a small smile playing over her own features.

 **Reputation increased with Hyūga Hiashi by 600**

 **Reputation increased with Hyūga Hiashi to Neutral**

* * *

"So let me get this straight, like a game with stat points and stuff," Kiba tried to puzzle out.

"I-I know it sounds hard to believe but-"Hinata started.

"No I believe you, it's just pretty out there," Kiba supplied.

"Just like that?" Hinata said as she tried to wrap her head round the situation. She had just spent the last hour detailing her ability to her teammates, during that time Kiba had offered the odd comment and Shino had stayed perfectly silent.

"Yup just like that," Kiba said.

"But why would you believe something like that so easily?" She asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" said Kiba. "It's not like you've ever lied to me before, so if you say you have some weird gamer bloodline thing, then that's that."

Hinata was completely dumfounded, she had prepared multiple avenues to convince her teammates such as instantly learning the Jutsu dropped by the Kirin in at the end of her last mission, or creating an instant dungeon.

Hesitantly she looked over to Shino who up to this point had not said a word. As if feeling her gaze upon him Shino spoke up.

"It is as Kiba said, why? Because you are our teammate and have no reason to lie to us, such an ability would also explain several inconsistencies Kiba and myself have noticed since we became a team," Shino concluded.

"Everyone," Hinata sniffed as she felt her nerves evaporating.

"You see," Kurenai said as she placed a comforting hand on Hinata's head. "You had nothing to worry about."

"Yea, this is gonna to be great," Kiba said excitedly. "Man I can't wait to start abusing that ability of yours, oh man it's going to be sweet when you get that party system."

"We don't even know the details of that yet, and in any case that will be no excuse for you to get lazy," Kurenai reprimanded. "As you may know the Chunin exams are being hosted in Konoha this time and will start in a little over a month's time."

"I take it you plan to enter us in this competition sensei?" said Shino.

"Yes, normally I would not have even considered entering a rookie squad like you into the exams. The Chunin exams are dangerous, and are filled with people on the same level or even stronger than those missing nin you fought."

"Man they were tough enough," Kiba grumbled.

"Yet despite a disadvantage in experience you managed to win. You all have a lot of potential and this exam will be good experience for you. I don't expect you all to pass that would be unreasonable. However since the exam will take place in Konoha this will be the closest I can get to a controlled environment to test you in."

"There is more to it than that, right sensei?" said Shino.

"Perceptive as always," Kurenai praised. "One thing I noticed was that during the mission you all took your opponents back alive-"Kurenai raised her hand to forestall any interruptions.

"Now in an ideal world this is the best option, it will mean information for the village and killing should never be so comfortable that it is your go to option."

"But answer me this, what if they were about to kill a hostage? What if they had sensitive information that if disclosed would have cost hundreds of lives?" she said and paused to let it sink in.

"In times like these it may be necessary to act decisively. Hinata, you said killing your opponent would be the easy way out, and sometimes that is true. But conversely, leaving a dangerous foe alive due to your own fear can also be a danger. I pray that each of you is able to recognise that situation when the time comes."

For a few moments each member of team 8 was digesting this new information. Hinata could certainly see the sense in her sensei's words, but until she was put in that situation she could not be sure what the right answer was.

Seeing the depressed atmosphere that had descended on the group Kurenai clapped her hands to get their attention.

"Right that's enough moping. These are questions that you don't have to have the answers to right away, take your time and think it over, find an answer that you can be satisfied with. In the meantime we have a long month ahead of us to prepare for the chunin exams, so prepare yourself because I'm going to put you three through hell," she smirked.

"But for right now, team 8 our next mission is to eat as much barbeque as we can, on me. Do you accept this perilous mission?"

"Yes sensei," they chorused.

* * *

 **Author's notes**

 **Hi all, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, once more beta read by Kindasortastantheman. I am back from Holiday now and well rested, I actually started this chapter the day I got back because I was so pleased with the response to the story while I was away.**

 **One thing I do want to ask you guys about is how thoughts are represented. My beta reader suggested that it may be easier to read if thoughts are italicised. I know from a literary standpoint normally you don't do this but I thought I would give it a shot to see if people liked it better. So please let me know if you prefer it italicised or integrated into the text normally like before.**

 **I know a lot of you were looking forward to Hinata revealing her secret to her team so I hope this did it justice. I thought long and hard about how I wanted to do it, and in the end I thought inserting a load of artificial drama would have been pointless. I honestly could see team 8 accepting this at face value given who was telling them and the inconsistencies they would have noticed on their own. If it had been team 7 or even team 10 then yes I could see there being drama, however there are not any diva's or awkward characters on team 8.**

 **There was a lot of plot this chapter so I hope you enjoyed the interaction between Hiruzen and Danzo, which was probably my favourite scene to write this chapter. Also Hinata is slowly getting her relationship back on track with her father; it still has a long way to go though.**

 **I am really happy to hear just how many of you liked the omake as I was really worried about that. They won't be too frequent, but I may do one every few chapters or so.**

 **This chapter would have been up a couple of days ago but I was in London for the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour. And I have to say it was amazing I would thoroughly recommend checking it out when it is in your part of the world if you are a fan of the series. I also booked tickets for distant worlds in November. I you're a fan of Final Fantasy then I would suggest acting quick as the tickets are almost sold out.**

 **Anyway we are really close to the 1500 favourite mark; hopefully we can do it in the next two chapters. Anyway enough of my rambling as always please tell me what you thought of this chapter in the reviews, and if you like the story please consider giving it a favourite or follow as it means a lot.**


	17. Chapter 17

Hinata Hyūga: A Gamers Potential

"You know, your ability is bullshit," Kiba groused as team 8 dragged themselves over to training ground 19.

"Language!" Kurenai snapped as she swatted Kiba upside the head.

"Sorry Kiba-kun," Hinata apologised.

"He is just envious of your ability, though I must admit your resistance to physical fatigue is... useful," Shino added as he too followed behind the pair at a subdued pace.

"Sensei, remind me again why we are sparing with another squad. Some of us are completely exhausted!" Kiba complained also getting a whine of agreement from Akamaru.

Shaking her head Kurenai observed her team. It had been a week since Hinata's revelation, in that time she had dialled her training up focusing exclusively on Genjutsu and physical development.

There wasn't much time left untill the Chunin exams, so pilling on a load of new techniques would not be the best use of her time. It would be better to focus on the basics. Besides, she was aware that Kiba and Shino were receiving extra training at home.

Since Hinata could cope with a punishingly large amount of physical conditioning, her remaining two Genin were also pushed to their limits.

"Because Kiba, in the real world you don't always have the luxury of going into a fight at full strength. Sometimes you have to make do with what you have; especially if you guys plan to do well in the Chunin exams," she stated.

"But Hinata isn't even tired," Kiba whined.

"That may be true, but she is also going to have a handicap. Very few people know that she's unlocked her Byakugan, so she is going to have to fight without its use. She's also low on Chakra from training so it will be a challenge for her as well,"

Hinata nodded grimly at that, she was indeed low on chakra.

 **Hyūga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Genin (HP and CP +50)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 16 Exp to next level 720/6996**

 **HP: 550/550**

 **CP: 270/600**

 **Strength: 30 (10)**

 **Dexterity: 57 (6.27) (10)**

 **Agility: 38 (4.94) (10)**

 **Vitality: 30 (10)**

 **Intelligence: 29 (10)**

 **Wisdom: 44 (4.84) (10)**

 **Charisma: 9**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 54**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 17040**

On the plus side, their mastering of the water walking exercise did reduce the cost of her techniques somewhat.

As team 8 were nearing the training grounds Shino spoke up "Sensei, may we know who our opponents are now?"

"I believe that will be readily apparent in a moment Shino."

" **Dynamic Entry!"** a voice shouted that rung throughout the clearing.

All Kiba saw was a green blur before he felt something hard impact his face that sent him tumbling across the ground.

"Excellent Lee-kun, your form was much better that time!" said a man dressed in green spandex that seemed to hug his form.

"Yosh, thank you my youthful comrade for allowing me to practice my technique!" a smaller figure also dressed in bright green spandex said while brandishing the nice guy pose.

"Such a youthful show of camaraderie," Guy said tearing up.

"Guy sensei."

"Lee-kun."

"Guy Sensei!"

"Lee-kun!"

"Kai!" Shino said desperately as he fell to one knee. "What manner of foul illusion is this, to think that our training over this past week was for nothing," he grunted as he struggled to reatain consciousness.

 **-10 HP**

 **-10 HP**

Having experienced this once before Hinata quickly shut her eyes to black out the fiery sunset of youth.

"Guy, that's enough!" Kurenai yelled as she fired a volley of kunai at the pair.

"Kurenai-san that was most unyouthful," Guy reprimanded as he avoided the barrage.

"Damn, I still can't dispel that thing, looks like I need to redouble my training," Kurenai muttered under her breath.

Quickly shaking her head to compose herself Kurenai remembered why they were here.

"Guy we came here to spar, not to witness your bonding session with your pupil," she reprimanded which seemingly snapped Guy back to attention.

"Ah quite right," he smiled "Neji, Tenten! Come, your youthful opponents have arrived!"

As Guy spoke two figures appeared next to Lee in a swirl of leaves.

The girl stood around 5 feet tall, a few centimetres taller than Hinata's own height. She had dark brown hair that was tied up into two buns atop her head, and piercing grey eyes that gave her some similarities to a panda.

She was wearing a pink sleeveless qipao style blouse with red sleeve trimmings and yellow fastening buttons. The blouse seemed to be customised to allow for greater ease of movement around the shoulders. In addition to this she wore dark green Shinobi pants that had a small grey pouch attached to it. Her forehead protector was wrapped around her head, nestled just beneath her bangs.

The second person stood at roughly 5 feet and two inches, and had distinct Hyūga features. He had a fair, pale complexion and long brown hair that flowed to the middle of his back in a loose ponytail. His featureless white eyes seemed to be trying to bore their way into Hinata's own as his face was marred with a perpetual sneer.

He wore a beige coloured shirt and dark brown shorts. He also had bandages wrapped around his right arm and right leg. He wore a black forehead protector that was tightened unusually firmly to his head.

"Sensei, when you told us that we would be sparing today I assumed you found opponents that would be a challenge," Neji said as he looked at them with contempt.

"This is a complete waste of my time; fate has already decreed that we will be the victors."

"Neji, try not to be so rude," the Kunoichi huffed.

"Sorry about him, I'm Tenten and this is Neji." The girl spared a glance at their teammate sprawled on the ground. "And you've already met Lee it seems."

For a while now Hinata had wondered about her cousin's team. It was rare to see the calm and collected Neji riled up or flustered, but she had noticed the twitch in his brow or the tightening of his hands on occasion after a lengthy training session.

"D-did anyone get the number of that carriage?" Kiba said woozily as he pulled himself up from the ground.

As Kiba continued to dust himself off Shino approached Kurenai.

"Sensei I assume these are our opponents for today?"

"That's right Shino, team Guy have been active for a year now so there is a lot you could learn from them. This will be a good test of your abilities and will allow you to see the level of the opponents you will face in the exams,"

"Exams," Tenten uttered. "Um, excuse me Kurenai-sensei but don't you think it's a bit soon for them to be entering the exams?"

"Tenten-chan, who are we to squash their fires of youth," Lee exclaimed. "Yosh, to see my underclassmen trying so hard. I will show them an excellent performance in this exam or I will run round Konoha five times on my hands!"

"Lee, what marvellous dedication," Guy said flashing the nice guy pose.

"Guy-sensei."

"Lee-kun."

"Guy-sensei!"

"Lee-kun!"

"No!" Tenten snapped as she pelted the pair with a barrage of Kunai. "Once per day maximum."

Hinata flashed Tenten a sympathetic smile, which the girl reciprocated.

"To answer your question Tenten, while it may be early for a rookie team to compete. This is the best opportunity to expose them to the exam in a relatively controlled environment, it will be a couple of years before Konoha is hosting again," Kurenai explained satisfying the other girl's curiosity.

"With that in mind, we're burning daylight here. Hinata, Tenten would the two of you mind starting us off?"

 **QUEST CREATED**

 **KONOHA'S WEAPON MISTRESS**

 **OBJECTIVE: Defeat Tenten**

 **MAIN REWARD: 2000 EXP, 2000 RYO**

 **Y/N**

* * *

Aside from sparing in the academy Hinata knew this would be her first time fighting another Kunoichi. Fighting without her Byakugan would be a disadvantage, but she wanted to keep that under wraps until the exam, she was used to being underestimated but now it would be to her opponent's folly.

Despite that she wondered how she compared to her foe, she had not really had much opportunity to observe her peers, and she was actively avoiding scanning Neji nii-san.

 **Name: Higurashi Tenten**

 **Title: Junior Weapons Mistress**

 **Level: 20**

 **HP: 450/250**

 **CP: 250/250**

 **Strength: 63**

 **Dexterity: 74**

 **Agility: 63**

 **Vitality: 35**

 **Intelligence: 29**

 **Wisdom: 32**

 **Charisma: 12**

 **Status**

 **Konoha Genin**

 **Description**

 **Tenten has grown up an orphan after her parents were killed for a weapons shipment they were transporting to Suna. As a result Tenten is the sole owner of the Higurashi weapons store located in Konoha. As a child she would often use the forge to craft weapons in honour of her parents.**

 **Tenten used to want to be a medic nin like Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin (Tsunade of the Three Legendary Ninja) but has since changed her goal to become the world's foremost weapons mistress and to surpass Tsunade as the strongest woman in the world.**

 **Tenten often finds herself exasperated with her team and has sworn not to let herself catch their crazy.**

 **Jutsu**

 **Soshoryu (Rising Twin Dragons) - ?**

"Strong," Hinata whispered to herself.

Tenten had much higher stats than she initially thought she would, though she would have to be strong to be on Neji nii-san's team. Recently her observe skill had hit another milestone so she was now treated to a snap shot of the Jutsu's her opponent knew, though it still did not tell hwe what the move did.

"Now I want a nice clean fight, remember this is just a spar," Kurenai cautioned. "Are you both ready? ... Hajime!"

As soon as the fight began Tenten let her hands slip down to the pouch on her waist, and before Hinata could register their movements they were already snaking up as they let two shuriken fly.

Hinata had to immediately dampen down the urge to activate her Byakugan, and as a result was hit in the shoulder by both projectiles

 **-25 HP**

Not wasting time the older girl used Hinata's indecision to circle round while pelting her with another barrage of sharpened steel.

"You're going to have to react faster than that, come on is standing there all you can do?"

Hinata and Tentens eyes met for a moment and she was instantly shocked out of her daze. Hinata allowed a layer of chakra to coat her hands as she studied the incoming projectiles.

"Byakugan or not, you're going to have to do better than that Tenten-san," she declared as her hands blurred snatching the incoming projectiles out of the air.

"No way!" Tenten yelled as she momentarily paused her advance.

Taking advantage of the opening Hinata pressed her advance aiming to get within striking range.

"I don't think so," Tenten yelled as she removed a small scroll from her pouch. With surprising swiftness Tenten unfurled the scroll to face Hinata and released a small barrage of weapons.

"Take that," Tenten yelled triumphantly, only for the smirk to be wiped off her face as Hinata sprung into the air like a rabbit, soaring over the weapons.

"Big mistake," Tenten taunted as she pulled a second scroll from her pouch. "You're a sitting duck in the air,"

* * *

On the sidelines the remainder of Team Guy and Team 8 were watching with rapt attention.

"As always, a failure like her is destined to lose," muttered Neji.

"Oi take that back bastard," Kiba growled as Akamaru bared his fangs at the other boy.

Raising his eyebrows at his fellow Genin Neji retorted, "If you fail to see the gap in their skill then that is your issue, it was a fundamental tactical flaw to become airborne against a ranged she were more competent she would have used Kaiten (rotation) and maintained her ground,"

As this argument was happening Shino decided to interject "You seem to be labouring under a misassumption-"

* * *

From her position high above Hinata could see the newly formed onslaught of weapons hurtling straight for her.

Calmly and decisively Hinata started to form hand seals, paying no heed to the rotating mass of metal. As she took aim she could feel the Chakra building up in her throat, steadily but surely her body temperature began to rise, yet she held fast. It was only as she opened her mouth that she saw her opponents look of triumph smoulder and turn to ash.

* * *

"-Why you may ask? Because Hinata is not a weak little girl like you seem to believe; she is strong." Shino finished getting a look of disbelief from Neji.

"Just watch."

* * *

" **Katon: Endan"** (Fire release: Flame bullet)

From her open maw a gout of flame sprang forth incinerating the incoming projectiles. Tenten quickly dove out of the way as the flames impacted the ground where she once stood. The heat cracked the ground as the earth began to sizzle and bake. The only thought running through Tenten's mind was how Hinata looked like a dragon in flight as she descended towards the ground.

"That- that was dangerous," Tenten said narrowing her eyes.

Reaching behind her once more Tenten withdrew another scroll; however this one was black instead of the standard green.

"I would run if I were you."

As she unfurled the scroll, she sent a barrage of kunai hurtling above, their number s too numerous to count. However mixed in with these Kunai were several sizzling tags.

At this Hinata's eyes went wide as she desperately made a break for the tree line.

Above her head she could hear the whistling sound of her doom slicing through the air. As she drew closer she felt an explosion behind her that whisked her off her feet sending her into the undergrowth.

However, the beauty of this attack was that if the initial barrage missed the explosions would get you. If the explosions missed however, then the Kunai that would be propelled by the explosive force would do the job.

It was for this reason that Hinata found several Kunai racing towards her face, and all she could do was raise her arms up in front of her.

* * *

 **QUEST FAILED**

 **KONOHA'S WEAPONS MISTRESS**

 **OBJECTIVE: Defeat Tenten**

 **MAIN REWARD: 2000 EXP, 2000 RYO**

It was a solemn team 8 that found themselves walking back to the village, today had been a sobering experience.

Kiba was still regaining movement of most of his extremities, he was beginning to realise why the Hyūga clan had developed a reputation for being so fierce.

His match, if it was even kind to call it that had been one sided at best. None of his techniques proved effective, and as soon as he got in close he found himself face down on the floor unable to move. This match clearly showed who the superior Taijutsu user was.

Shino was fairing even worse, his glasses were cracked and his arms were cradling his bruised ribs. He initially thought he would be able to take down his opponent in the same manner that he did Subaru, just sap his chakra and take the win.

Unfortunately this turned out to be wishful thinking. He did not account for his opponent's raw strength. Lee barrelled through his swarm and closed the distance in an instant, the next thing Shino knew his world was erupting in pain, and he was down for the count.

Unlike Subaru, Lee went for a decisive blow right from the beginning. This really highlighted his need to improve his defences and increase the speed in which his insects could drain chakra; he would have to consult his father further.

Unlike her teammates, Hinata was largely thoughtful as she attempted to come to terms with what happened at the end of her fight.

The match was called in Tenten's favour after that last attack, the girl had plenty more ammunition and neither Jounin wanted to be responsible for repairing the field afterwards.

However Hinata was still focused on the end of the fight, she never realised it could be used that way as well.

"So how do you feel after facing Konoha's most powerful Genin squad?" Kurenai asked.

"How do we feel, Sensei we got wrecked, how do you think we feel!" Kiba complained.

"I must concur, it was most... disheartening to be defeated so easily," Shino grimaced.

Meanwhile Hinata remained silent but nodded her head in agreement.

"Good." Kurenai said as they kept walking.

The team walked in silence for a moment waiting for more comments, until finally Kiba couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you mean good? Come on Sensei, give us more than that!"

Kurenai shook her head; she knew Kiba would be the first to crack.

"I meant what I said, it's good that you see that there are people in your own age group that are more powerful than you," she said as they neared the main road. "I didn't want you to become conceited with your victory recently, in this world there's always someone better."

Seeing that she had created a dejected atmosphere she bonked each of her Genin on the heads. "But that doesn't mean you should give up now, does it? I meant what I said, Team Guy is the strongest Genin squad currently in rotation, and each of you were matched up against your worse possible opponent."

Each of the Genin stopped to think for a moment and came to the realisation that she was right. Kiba had fought someone who was better at his own speciality and could shut down his combination attacks with ease.

Shino had fought someone that could take advantage of his physical frailness, and did not overly rely on chakra to execute his moves.

Hinata had fought someone who had a vast amount of experience fighting against the Juken, and therefore never allowed herself to be caught within striking distance.

"On the whole I think each of you did remarkably well, what you lacked was not strength but experience, and that will come with time."

Arriving at the main gate Kurenai nodded to the guards and they were allowed in.

"Don't worry; we still have a little time left until the exams. The whole point of today was to highlight your weaknesses. Take tomorrow off and spend some time thinking things over, when we pick back up I'll be running you into the ground again."

After that the team said their goodbyes, the two male members deep in thought.

Hinata was about to make her way home too when she thought she heard something from behind her.

"Oi, Hinata!" cried a voice from behind.

Walking through the gates she spotted four people she was very familiar with, one of whom was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit.

Team 7 had returned.

* * *

 **Hyūga Hinata**

 **Class: The Gamer**

 **Title: Genin (HP and CP +50)**

 **Teacher: Kurenai – Plus 50% to genjutsu learning rates, plus 1 intelligence and wisdom per level up**

 **Level: 16 Exp to next level 720/6996**

 **HP: 550/550**

 **CP: 270/600**

 **Strength: 30 (10)**

 **Dexterity: 57 (6.27) (10)**

 **Agility: 38 (4.94) (10)**

 **Vitality: 30 (10)**

 **Intelligence: 29 (10)**

 **Wisdom: 44 (4.84) (10)**

 **Charisma: 9**

 **Status:**

 **Timid: -20% to reputation gains below friendly and - 20% experience gained to Juken techniques**

 **Flexible joints: +2 dexterity per level**

 **?: +50% Exp to ? skills and Jutsu**

 **Point: 54**

 **Perk: 0**

 **Ryo: 17040**

 **Skills**

Accounting

10

Mathematical ability and bookkeeping

Acting

5

The ability to hide ones emotions

Chakra Flow

30

Increases Strength by 36% and agility by 36%

Compassion

1

Increased reputation gains with those friendly and above by 5%

cooking

1

Increases the effectiveness of prepared foods by 5%

Detect Poison

1

1% chance to detect poison in a consumed or detected item

Gamers Body

MAX

Grants the User a body that functions like a game. After sleep in a bed restore Hp, Cp and any abnormal status effect.

Genjutsu Mastery

20

Decrease the chakra cast of Genjutsu by 11%. Increase the difficulty to dispel your Genjutsu by 10%

Hand seals

15

Hand seal speed increased by 15%

Instant Dungeon Creation

4

(Training space, Rabbit Dungeon, Training space customisation, ? Dungeon)

Instant Dungeon Escape

4

The ability to escape an instant dungeon

Juken

18

Passively increase dexterity by 11%. Passively increases Wisdom by 11%

Leaf sticking

MAX

reduce chakra costs of all techniques by 20%

Observe

40

Gain information about people, objects or locations.

Project Killing Intent

4

Gain a chance to frighten an enemy

Running

25

Passively increases agility by 13%

Stealth

15

Passively increases stealth by 15%

Tree walking

MAX

reduce chakra costs of all techniques by 10%

Water Walking

MAX

reduce chakra costs of all techniques by 10%

Weapons Kunai and Shuriken Level

17

Passively increases Kunai and shuriken damage by 17%

 **Authors Notes**

 **Hello, yes I am alive. My sincerest apologies for the long break between chapters. Unfortunately due to my job we frequently have periods where the workloads explode into almost unmanageable levels. Combined with not enough staff this tends to leave me wiped out and in no mood to write at the weekend. Unlike some I have too much on during the week most of the time to write then, so weekends are my normal writing time plus socialising and all that jazz.**

 **On the bright side I have already started the next chapter and I 'hope' to have it out within two weeks. The next chapter will be the last before we kick off the Chunin exams.**

 **Once more a big thank you to my Beta kindasortastantheman for doing a fantastic job on this chapter.**

 **So two random side notes before I go, If you have not picked up persona 5 then go pick up persona 5, its fantastic.**

 **Second, is it just me or are more people writing don't like don't read in their story descriptions? I don't know about you but I can't help but think just nut up. This is a creative medium you can't please everyone so you're going to receive some criticism. Also it seems to mainly be the people who write really dodgy shit who tend to do this. Slight tangent but it's been annoying me recently.**

 **Finally holy crap 2000 follows, thank you all so much. I did not think when I started this story that it would get this popular, I'm really glad so many of you are enjoying it.**

 **As always please read and review, I always enjoy hearing peoples thoughts on the story, especially those of you that like to make predictions.**

 **See you next time.**


	18. Chapter 18

Hinata Hyūga: A Gamers Potential

Hinata watched as team 7 trudged through the gate, the setting sun was at their backs making their return look somewhat triumphant. Sakura was busying herself fussing over Sasuke, while the Uchiha had his hands sunk deep in his pockets. A frown marred his face as he attempted to avoid his teammate's tender ministrations.

Seeing his target ahead Naruto bowled past Kakashi, which elicited a long suffering sigh from the silver haired Jounin as he observed his dysfunctional team.

Naruto continued his sprint up to Hinata, waving his hand in the air with a smile splitting his face.

"We're back dattebayo," he said with glee as he placed his hands behind his head and gave her a cheeky grin.

Even after returning from a mission Naruto was still so excitable, she couldn't help but giggle.

"Welcome back," she greeted him fondly, impressed by his exuberance.

Turning his back to her he looked towards his team "Hey Kakashi sensei, I'm going to tell Hinata about our awesome mission, you guys can report to Jiji right?"

"Naruto, you can't just blow off a mission briefing because you want to go chat with Hinata," Sakura fumed. "And Hinata don't encourage him. Urgh why can't you be more laid back like Sasuke-kun?" She asked as she turned towards said Uchiha.

"Don't get me involved in your pointless squabbles," he grunted before walking away from her.

"Well it seems like everyone is a bit tired. Tell you what, I'll go report to Hokage-sama, the rest of you get some rest, team 7 is on leave for the next two days," Kakashi said as he waved his hands in a placating manner.

Having gotten confirmation Naruto barely showed any sign of acknowledging his sensei as he began to rapidly speak to Hinata.

"Sensei, your're way too lax," Sakura grumbled.

"Now, now. It's not every day you have a run in with a missing nin on a mission, you should take it easy while it lasts, big things are coming up soon," he said enigmatically before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"Wait, Sensei!" Sakura yelled. "Urgh, what did he mean by big things. Hinata you're lucky to have a normal sensei!"

With team sevens attention firmly on her now Hinata had to suppress the urge to press her fingers together. "Um, Sakura-san I think Kakashi sensei was referring to the Chunin selection exams that will take place in Konoha soon,"

Sasuke's brow rose at the admission and a look of understanding dawned on Sakura's face.

"Oh that makes sense, I didn't know Konoha was hosting them next," Sakura said.

"The who's a what now?" Naruto questioned.

"The exams dobe, you want to become Hokage and you don't even know how to advance to Chunin?" Sasuke said with a ton of disbelief.

"Hey shut it teme," Naruto said as he got up in Sasuke's face.

"Why don't you try to make me dobe, why don't you show me that power that you used to beat that ice user," he said as his eyes bled to red, the sharringan spinning wildly.

Ever since the end of the mission he had been on edge, this talentless nobody had come out of nowhere. He was the bottom of the class and now a few short months later he was standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Naruto succeeded where he had failed, heck if it weren't for the dobe he may have died in wave.

It was frightening and confusing. How was he supposed to measure up to Itachi when he was only just measuring up to the class clown. He hated to admit it but Naruto was getting stronger, he wanted to fight him to gauge his own progress.

However before things could escalate to violence both boys felt a hand placed on their shoulders.

"Friends shouldn't fight, there will be plenty of that to go around once the exams start," Hinata said quietly but with surprising authority.

With eye contact broken both boys seemed to deflate and Sasuke deactivated his Sharringan.

Turning round to face her fully Sasuke spent a moment to carefully examine the girl before him.

"You, you're less meek than you were before," he said appraisingly. "You never would have stuck your nose in back at the academy."

That much was true; the old Hinata would never have dared to get involved. But things change, people change.

Nodding her head in assent Hinata looked him straight in the eyes "The academy was a long time ago Sasuke-san. Rookie of the year, dead last, and all those titles are meaningless now. None of us are the same as we were back then, if you keep clinging to that idea you'll never grow."

Sauke's face froze in that moment, that echoed his own thoughts a little too closely for comfort.

"But you've seen that first hand right? I don't know what happened on your mission but if you dealt with a missing nin then you know that there are people out there who are incredibly strong, and even you will need a team behind you to back you up," Hinata said as Sasuke averted his eyes from her.

"I can tell that you and Naruto-kun are rivals, but remember that you're also teammates, equals. Looking down on each other won't serve anything. Imagine what you could do if you worked together instead?"

Unbidden thoughts of freeing Kakashi from Zabuza's water prison sprung to Sasuke's mind. Despite their differences they had been in synch. They had been able to accomplish a feat neither would have been capable of on their own.

"Hmph, for such a quiet girl you talk too much... must be dobe's influence,"

 **Reputation with Uchiha Sasuke increased by 75**

"Teme, apologise to Hinata-chan," Naruto said growing irritated.

"Hmph, jumping to your girlfriends defence dobe-"

"G-girlfriend?" Hinata spluttered as her cheeks tinged red.

"- don't worry she has a point, I'd rather spar with you when you're at your best, I guess the Chunin exam finals will have to do."

Blinking for a moment as he processed what his rival said, Naruto broke out into an ear-splitting grin. "You're on teme," he said as he stuck his fist forward.

"Bring it dobe," Sasuke smirked as they bumped fists.

Turning on her heel, Hinata smiled as she began walking away. She was glad that she helped diffuse the tension, but... it kind of irked her that she was being ignored.

As she walked away she turned her head and said "that's all well and good but, you need to make it to the finals first; and I hate to break it to you but I'm stronger than both of you."

 **Reputation increased with Uchiha Sasuke by 50**

 **Reputation Increased with Uzumaki Naruto by 50**

 **Charisma increased by 1**

 **Charisma increased by 1**

"Hey, Hyuga get back here!" cried Sasuke, his pride stung.

"No fair Hinata-chan no cutting and running!" Naruto cried as Hinata continued to walk away with a pleased grin on her face.

* * *

Soon after Naruto and Hinata were alone wandering the streets of Konoha. Sasuke had since realised that they were acting childish and skulked back to the Uchiha compound, however Hinata though she saw a flicker of a smile on his face.

Thus the two started to wander, with no real destination in sight. As they travelled Hinata noticed Naruto's smile wither and fade as they received scathing looks from the civilian population. It didn't last for long as soon enough another smile was on his face.

Hinata frowned at the sight.

The smile was fake, like an ill-fitting mask that struggled to conform to his face. It was wrong; a perversion of what his normal smile was like, it irritated her.

Subconsciously she reached out and took his hand in hers offering her silent support. Once she realised what she had done her face burned scarlet but she stayed the course.

"Hina-," Naruto began as he suddenly found himself being pulled along by an aggravated Hyūga heiress. "Whoa, hold up a second."

Hinata bobbed and weaved through the crowd with a bedraggled Uzumaki trailing behind her. As she passed by she tried to give a stern look to the passersby, but to most it would have looked more like a cute pout.

Eventually the pair made their way to an unused training ground, as they were moving Hinata's grip steadily became more firm on Naruto's hand.

"Hinata-chan" he called getting no response from her as he tried to pry his hand from her grip.

With his free hand he began poking her in the side to get her attention "Oi, Hina-"he started as she turned round to reveal she had tears in her eyes.

"...ta-chan... Hinata, hey what's wrong," he panicked flailing his free arm around.

Releasing his hand allowed her to bring both of her own up to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Uzumaki Naruto claimed to be good at many things, eating ramen, pranks, being the number one candidate to be Hokage, comforting crying girls was not on his list of skills.

As she was wiping her eyes she suddenly felt a pair of arms encircle her, causing her to stiffen. Lifting her head up she found herself looking into ocean blue eyes and spiky blonde hair.

"W-what are you doing?" she squeaked.

Naruto quickly let go, as if he had been touching molten lava.

"W-well whenever I'm sad I always wish that someone would give me a hug so..." he trailed off and looked down as if he found his shoes the most interesting thing in the world.

"I dunno, I guess I thought it would make you feel better."

" _That's just like Naruto-kun, always thinking about others."_

Taking the initiative Hinata reciprocated and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head into her shoulder.

" _He's gotten taller"_ She though as she had to stretch to reach his neck. His golden locks tickled her fingers as she peered up at him. Concern and confusion were written on his face, she knew he was worried, she just wished some of that worry would extend to himself.

"Hinata-chan?" he questioned causing her to tighten her grip.

"You're sad, so I'm giving you a hug."

"B-but I'm not sad," Naruto protested.

Raising her head up to look at him she peered right into his eyes "Liar.". She loved and hated that about him, he would jump in front of a crowd of bullies to save a shy little girl but he wouldn't rely on others to save him.

"But I'm no-"

"Liar," she said as he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"That smile," she murmured as she chewed her bottom lip in frustration. "I hate that fake smile you wear to try and hide the pain."

Feeling shocked Naruto attempted to pull away from her grip but she held on tight. "I hate the way you always feel you need to put others at ease," she said as if daring him to contradict her. "It's okay to be angry, it's okay to be sad, everyone feels that way sometimes. What's not okay is to keep it all to yourself."

As she said this she kept her gaze fixed on his as she watched the emotions war for dominance on his face. First was disbelief which soon gave way to irritation, that emotion too lost the battle to contemplation, which finally ceded defeat to acceptance.

Hinata felt his shoulders slump as he leant into her embrace.

"I thought I had gotten used to all the stares, you know?" he said softly as he surrendered to the embrace.

It was odd seeing him like this. Uzumaki Naruto shined brightly, more transcendent and fiercer than the sun. If there was an obstacle in his path he would tirelessly chip away at it, eventually even the smallest stream would cut its way through the largest mountain. Seeing him so frail was contrary to the image of Uzumaki Naruto she built up in her mind.

 _Even Naruto-kun has insecurities, but deep down I already knew that._

"I guess after Wave I thought things would be different," he said as the tiredness crept into his voice. "They called me a hero, they cheered for me... I never knew how happy that would make me. I know I always say I want to be Hokage, that then people would acknowledge me, but the people of Wave... they did Hinata, they really did."

She felt his shoulder shake and something warm and moist impact her shoulder in rhythmic drops.

"What happened in Wave Naruto-kun," she asked gently, attempting to ease the story out of him.

"There was a bridge builder old man Tazuna, he was trying to free his people from a rich bastard named Gato..." Naruto began as he recounted the mission in Wave.

During his tale Naruto pulled away and they sat down side by side, her hand still nestled firmly in his.

Hinata was surprised that someone could have even worse luck than her team, meeting one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist on their first trip out of the village; he truly had the devils luck.

Hinata could tell that the boy Haku had a profound effect on Naruto. He unconsciously gripped her hand tighter as he spoke of him.

Leave it to Naruto to turn an enemy into a friend, but that's what made him special. He had an innate charisma, and he didn't even realise it.

She could feel his anguish as he told her the boy's fate. She was surprised that someone like Zabuza could have such a change of heart, to recklessly charge the field to avenge a loved one. It was brave; she hoped she would never be put in such a situation.

"Old man Tazuna, Inari and all the people of Wave, they made me feel like a hero. It's just tough to come back to Konoha and have people stare at me all because of the Kyu- because of something I have no control over," he said cutting himself off.

" _Because of Kyu?"_ Hinata thought.

"I guess, I'm tired of being alone," he admitted.

"But you're not alone," Hinata said with as much sincerity as she could muster. She tried to convey that sentiment with every part of her being.

"You're not alone, because I'll always be right here," she said as she gave his hand a reassuring grip.

 _Naruto is an enigma, not much is known about his past or his family, but for some reason most of Konoha seems to hate him._

Naruto appeared to flinch at her statement, his eyes were downcast and his body shook lightly due to shock. "They'll just hate you too," he said in a small voice, a defeated and tired voice.

"I don't care, to me Naruto-kun is a hero," Hinata declared.

Cautiously meeting her gaze he asked "But why?"

"I used to be so afraid, sometimes I still am," she reminisced. "Back when I was little a group of bullies cornered me, they were going to teach me a lesson for being so 'stuck up'. I was terrified, I just wanted to sink into the ground and disappear."

"What happened?" he asked, causing Hinata to give him a warm smile.

"You did."

Naruto was taken aback by her admission, he didn't remember that.

"You swept in and took on all the bullies, you got hurt because of me," she said, saddened by this declaration. "But to me you were a hero; you've always been my hero Naruto-kun."

 _That is an S ranked secret. The only people able to disclose that are the Hokage and Naruto himself._

He looked so small.

He looked so small and frightened.

His boisterousness had been stripped away, his bravado had been crushed and his vulnerabilities were exposed. His expression was so meek; he looked at her with fear and longing in equal measures, as if he were afraid to get his hopes up.

It broke her heart.

"They call me a monster when they think I'm not listening."

She wanted to curse in frustration. It was clear that the dam was broken, years of insecurities were bubbling to the surface. She still didn't completely understand the situation, but it was clear that many people had failed Naruto; she didn't intend to be one of them.

"You're not a monster," she said with conviction. "You're Uzumaki Naruto, Konohagakure Shinobi, future Hokage and most importantly my friend."

Like she hoped, Naruto seemed to brighten at her words. His troubled look began to slip away and a small smile spread on his lips.

She didn't know whether to press him any further. She had a suspicion, but it would be risky. She could be wrong but the pieces fit.

" _It's just tough to come back to Konoha and have people stare at me all because of the Kyu-"_

"Thanks Hinata-chan. Other than Iruka sensei, you're the first person to believe that I can become Hokage," he said.

Now or never.

"That's because I know that you are destined for great things," she said seriously as she prepared herself for what was to come. "I don't know how the Kyūbi is involved, but Naruto-kun is Naruto-kun."

A look of shock and terror found its way onto his face as he reflexively tried to pull his hand away. Hinata held fast, she wouldn't let him pull away, not now.

"How do you know about Kyūbi?" he asked, fear once more flooding through him.

"I didn't, not for sure anyway. However you just confirmed that it is involved," she said gently. "But as I said, Naruto-kun is Naruto-kun."

There were many things about Uzumaki Naruto that didn't make sense; most people just never took the time to look. So fooled where they by the guise of the trickster, they never assumed that there was anything deeper; perhaps they just didn't want to?

Born October 10th, the night of the Kyūbi attack, orphaned that same night. That in itself was not so unusual; many children were orphaned that night. But how many of those orphans garnered the personal attention of the Sandaime Hokage?

How many of those orphans were treated like the plague, their crime, merely existing?

Yet despite this harsh treatment Naruto was afforded an unprecedented level of freedom. If anyone else had desecrated a national monument you can bet the next thing they would be seeing would be the inside of a cell.

No, Naruto was being kept at arm's length, but close enough to be recalled if needed.

Once more Naruto looked like he was at war within himself. Ultimately it seemed the side that wanted to trust Hinata won out as he raised his top to expose his stomach.

With a brief application of Chakra a spiraling seal was formed on the flesh. Hinata was no expert in Fuinjutsu, but had an interest in the subject for obvious reasons, even she could tell that the seal in front of her was far more complex that the caged bird seal.

"Everyone thinks that the Yondaime killed the Kyūbi," he said taking a deep breath. "But that's not true… the Kyūbi, it got sealed into me when I was a baby. I'm something that's called a Jinchuriki." he said and became deathly quiet as he waited for the rejection.

Without hesitating Hinata slipped closer and wrapped her arms round him "Baka," she said softly.

"Hinata-chan?"

"Naruto no Baka!" she cried as she pulled him closer. "A scroll does not become a Kunai just because you seal one into it; Naruto-kun is Naruto-kun."

"That's the last I want to hear about that," she said forestalling any response he might have given.

The two sat in a companionable silence, draped in each other's arms. Their minds were a whirl processing the information that had been revealed.

Hinata now realized what a burden her friend had been under this entire time; however it just made his optimistic and bright personality all the more impressive. If she could she wanted to protect that smile of his.

Meanwhile Naruto felt joy, pure unadulterated joy. He had been so happy when Iruka had acknowledged him, but somehow this felt even better.

Secretly he had been terrified what would happen if anyone his age found out about his fluffy little problem, but this helped to set his mind at ease. He couldn't help but think back to what Haku had said, now he had one more precious person to protect.

Naruto freely let his happiness show on his face as he squeezed her tighter "Hinata-chan, thank you for being my friend."

 **Reputation increased with Uzumaki Naruto by 1000**

 **Reputation with Uzumaki Naruto is now Honored**

 **Compassion increased by 1**

 **Compassion increased by 1**

 **Charisma increased by 1**

 **Charisma increased by 1**

"Come what may there is one thing you can always rely on," she said with determination. "Naruto-kun, I will always be your friend."

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 **REASON FOR SCORN**

 **OBJECTIVE: Find out why the villagers hate Naruto**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Confront Naruto with the truth**

 **MAIN REWARD: 8000 exp**

 **BONUS AWARD: 1 perk point**

 **BONUS AWARD: Kyūbi emblem**

 **You have gained a level**

* * *

 **Authors notes**

 **Hi all sorry for the long delay for this chapter. Unfortunately we had people move departments at work so for the last two months I have pretty much been doing 3 people's jobs which has left me exhausted. Combined with looking for flats I have not had much time or energy.**

 **However I hope despite its length this chapter satisfies people with the 9 bomb being dropped. Thanks once again to my beta for looking at this.**

 **As we speak I am uploading this from my hotel on Holliday. But fear not for when I return we will be kicking off the chunin exams next chapter, so look forward to it.**

 **So as always please fave, follow and review I always love to see them. Also if there were any questions last chapter in the reviews that I missed responding too feel free to pm me as I don't mind. Catch you all next time!**


	19. Chapter 19

Hinata Hyūga: A Gamers Potential

The assembled Jonin waited patiently as their Hokage carefully leafed through the documents in front of him. Hiruzen let out a small sigh as he stopped on one file in particular, Sabaku no Gaara. The Yondaime Kazekage's youngest son. The reports he had received painted the boy as being mentally unstable, however be that as it may it would be politically unwise to refuse him entry to the Chunin exams; Konoha's relationship with Suna was strained as it was.

"Shikaku, have the preparations been made for the amendments to the exam structure?" He asked.

While he may not have enjoyed the last minute work that had been dumped on his lap Shikaku did agree with the changes that had been made to the exam. A little more preparation to weed out the chaff couldn't hurt, especially with two Jinchuriki competing this year.

"Well, it was tough pulling it off last minute but we should be good to go. Though this won't have much effect of the ones that are ready, but it should weed out some of the representatives from the smaller villages," Shikaku mused.

"Very good, something tells me this exam isn't going to run as smoothly as previous years. The fewer genin we have to watch over the better," Hiruzen said.

Hiruzen turned his head to observe the other Jonin in the room. "Kakashi, are you certain your team is ready for this?"

Snapping his book shut, Kakashi cocked his head to the side. "Hmm, I wonder," he murmured, as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Kakashi," Hiruzen said with warning in his tone.

Kakashi straightened up and attempted not to look sheepish, "Apologies Hokage-sama."

"Can't you be serious for once Kakashi," Kurenai chided.

"Now, now despite what you may think I'm always serious," Kakashi said getting disbelieving stares from the others in the room. "So cold, well despite your ringing endorsement I honestly can't say if my team is ready."

Holding up a hand to forestall the impending argument he continued, "what I mean to say is that all three of my students have potential, but despite our recent run in with Zabuza they still don't really understand the realities of being a shinobi." Kakashi surmised as he tried to get his point across. "It's my hope that by pitting them against others in their own age group they'll see just how far they have to go, and that there is only so much they can do alone."

"Don't you think that's a bit of a gamble?" Asuma asked.

"Well I imagine that both of you are having similar thoughts. Since the exam is in Konoha, what better time than now to give them some experience," Kakashi said as he saw looks of acknowledgement pass over their faces.

"Leaving Kakashi's … teaching methods aside, Asuma how is your team progressing?" Hiruzen enquired.

"Still a little rough around the edges, but no complaints from me. Their teamwork is as good as expected, Ino keeps the boys in line. Choji still has some confidence issues to work out but he is coming along at a nice pace. Shikamaru is, well... no offence Shikaku but he's a Nara."

"None taken," Shikaku sighed.

"As a team I have confidence that they could handle any other Genin squad Konoha is fielding at the moment save for Guy's."

"Hmm, I think someone is getting a bit too big for their britches, your team is not the only one with great teamwork," Kurenai glowered.

"Ah Nai-ch- I mean Kurenai-san you know I didn't mean it like that," Asuma backpedalled.

"Ah such youthful competition! Yosh, it's decided if my team don't make it the farthest in this exam I will run round Konoha thirty times on my hands," Guy bellowed.

"Speaking of that, it's not a bad idea. How about a friendly wager?" Kakashi offered.

"Terms?" inquired Asuma.

"If someone from team 7 gets the farthest you guys have to buy me the Icha Icha Paradise signed collector's edition, the one with pictures," Kakashi giggled.

"Fine but I amend the terms of the bet to the team that gets the most members becoming Chunin, it's all very well getting to the end of the exams but if you don't show the necessary skills then is it really a victory?" Asuma countered getting nods of approval from all save Kakashi.

"You were hoping to muscle your way through, weren't you Kakashi?" Kurenai accused.

"No comment."

"If I win then you guys have to foot our team's food bills for the rest of the year," Asuma said causing the others to grab their wallets in fear.

"Fine but if we win then Kakashi has to burn his Icha Icha collection, Asuma has to quit smoking and Guy has to never use the sunset of youth again!" Kurenai demanded causing the three males to flinch.

Having upped the ante the others were no longer looking as confident.

"Gah, if that's the way it is then very well. If my youthful students win then all of you and your teams must join us every day for a year in our youthful morning exercise routine!" Guy exclaimed.

Soon enough the discussion devolved into bickering as terms were hashed out.

Meanwhile Hiruzen looked on as he lit his pipe and took a satisfying puff.

"It seems they have forgotten me, damn you Minato. I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

The sun was just rising in the sky as Hinata was preparing her supplies for the day ahead. She had recently bought some supplies from the market to store in her inventory, food, equipment and any other essentials. It was amazing how convenient her inventory was, even her most recent discovery.

Hinata pulled a finely polished kunai from the void, at its base there was a manufacturer's mark that read Higurashi.

Yes it would certainly come in handy she mused as she replaced the weapon.

Even at this time of the morning the compound was still rife with activity, several members of the branch family were busying themselves with preparations for the day ahead. Neji had already left the compound, most likely to meet with his team before the exams began.

The chuunin exams, just thinking about them caused a surge of emotion to well up in her chest. In just a few short hours she would get the opportunity to prove that she was Chunin material.

As she stepped out into the courtyard, she could hear the rhythmic taps of a palm striking training dummy.

"2 palms," a voice cried out as two consecutive sounds rung out.

"4 palms," the voice cried again as the tempo increased a notch. Hinata now had a clear view of the person training and could see that it was her sister Hanabi.

"8 palms," Hanabi cried as she danced around the training dummy.

Hinata was impressed; this was an advanced technique for one as young as Hanabi to be learning.

Hinata watched as Hanabi relaxed her stance to complete the technique; however her form came apart at the end.

"16 pal- aah!" her sister cried as her last flurry of hits missed their mark.

With slow and obvious steps Hinata made her way over to her sister, she purposefully made noise as she walked to alert Hanabi to her presence. It would not do to startle her, while young Hanabi most certainly had an air of Hyūga pride about her.

"Hanabi-chan?" Hinata called out tentatively, her sister could be prickly when she failed.

Dusting herself off and attempting to hide a blush Hanabi responded "Hinata-Onee san, what are you doing here?"

"Good morning Hanabi-chan, I was on my way to meet my team. Today is the first day of the Chunin exams," she explained.

"Do you have time to be hanging around here then?" said Hanabi.

Hinata could only sigh to herself as she stepped forward to pull her sister into a hug "I always have time for my cute baby sister,"

"Onee-chan!" Hanabi squawked in embarrassment.

"Onee-chan now is it," Hinata teased as her sister slipped into a more casual form of address.

"Mou," Hanabi pouted as she wrested herself free from Hinata's grip.

"If you're not here to help with this jutsu then you should get going Hinata- **onee san** ," she stressed.

Though that brought up an interesting point, she had never been able to use the technique before. Like Hanabi she had struggled with the last flurry of blows, the technique was designed to increase in speed as it went on.

"But now..." she murmured.

Steadily she approached the target in front of her and lowered herself into a stance. She lowered her centre of gravity and splayed her arms out wide.

"Onee-san?" Hanabi declared in shock.

Hanabi's words seemed to act like a trigger as Hinata flexed her fingers and lunged forth.

"2 palms," even without her Byakugan active the body's tenketsu were marked all over the practice dummy. Starting at the chest she aimed two devastating blows to the tenketsu by the lungs to cripple the cardiovascular system.

"4 palms," the next strikes were aimed at the arms to prevent a counter attack.

"8 palms," doubling the strike count, more were aimed at the torso to disrupt the flow of chakra further.

Now the crucial final step, Hinata planted her foot firmly and let her arms lash out, they were like a maelstrom of ill intent.

"16 palms, **Jukenho: Hakke Juroku Sho** (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixteen Plams)" after the last devastating blow was dealt an awful cracking sound was heard as the wooden post keeping the training dummy upright collapsed under the strain.

 **Through a special action a new technique has been created**

 **Jukenho: Hakke Juroku Sho** (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixteen Plams)

 **This technique is the first move in the Eight Trigrams branch of jutsu, by striking at blinding speeds the user is able to seal an opponent's chakra network. Sealing an opponent's chakra with an Eight Trigrams technique is more effective than doing so manually. This technique may evolve further.**

 **Cost: 40 CP**

 **Seal an opponent's chakra for 5 minutes**

 **Costs 60 CP to purge the effect of this jutsu (Double the cost if opponent's wisdom is fewer than 25) 5% chance for the opponent to sustain 10% health injury from chakra purging.**

"What, how did you do that!" Hanabi exclaimed in excitement as she circled the destroyed training post.

"Lots of training I guess," Hinata said whilst feeling uncomfortable from her sister's scrutiny.

"When the exam is over why don't I help you, that last step is pretty tricky," she offered.

"You mean it?" asked Hanabi.

"Pinky promise," Hinata said holding her little finger out to her sister.

"I'm not a little kid you know," Hanabi grumbled as she laced her own finger with her sisters.

"Yes you are, to me you will always be my little firework," Hinata said taking off before Hanabi could process what she said.

Just as she cleared the door to the training area she heard an enraged cry.

"Onee-chan!"

 **Reputation increased by 100 with Hyūga Hanabi.**

* * *

The rhythmic sounds of breathing could be heard emanating from the bed in the corner of the room if one were to listen hard enough. Woven deeply into the blankets, snuggled up like in a mothers embrace two figures could be found.

A trail of drool could be found inching its way out of the young man's mouth, while a shaggy white splotch of fur could be seen rising and falling on his chest. Hana would have almost found it cute if not for the fact that her brother was about to be late for his own exams at this rate.

With a shake of her head she gestured to the three Haimaru brothers who were sitting patiently beside her. By her command, her ninken grabed the duvet with their incredibly strong jaws and yanked it free causing the sleeping pair to wake with a start.

"Gah, so cold."

"Arf."

It takes them a couple of seconds to realise what has happened, but sure enough they both shot her a reproachful look.

"God, how old are you, five? Needing me to get you up in the morning, what would mum think?"

At the mention of his mother Kiba paled slightly, he didn't want to find out what would happen if she found out that he was almost late for the exams because he overslept.

"Now say it," Hana grinned which earned a sigh from her brother.

Begrudgingly Kiba knew there would be no way out of this one, "You're the best sister in the world and I'm lucky to have you."

"Damn straight, now get changed and I'll go make some breakfast," Hana said leaving the room.

Flopping back on the bed Kiba rolled his eyes, "know it all big sisters."

* * *

As usual Shino was up early, he enjoyed the views as the morning sun illuminated the various gardens and greenhouses in the Aburame compound.

The gardens were split into five sections which housed insects of varying degrees of potency, Gardens D,C,B,A and X contained Kikaichu of varying danger levels. If he managed to be promoted to Chunin he would be permitted to enter and add specimens to his hive from the B ranked garden.

Currently he was sitting in the D ranked garden, slowly sipping a cup of tea as the sun warmed what little of his skin that was left exposed to the elements.

To an outsider the garden would appear largely unkempt, this was not like the gardens you may find in the Nara compound with immaculate lawns and perfectly trimmed bonsai trees. No, Gardens in this compound where almost jungle like in appearance. Vines grew and spread throughout the vegetation and trees deposited their fruits across the ground to slowly make their way back into the ecosystem.

While it might appear that no thought had been put into maintenance, everything was exactly as it should be. A natural feel was best to encourage reproduction of the various species of insects that dwelled within the undergrowth.

Even now Shino's Hive was diligently making its way back to him from within the forested area. It was important to let ones hive return to nature every so often. Failure to do so would cause many of his insects to lose their edge, or natural instinct so to speak. One does not domesticate a Kikaichu insect, not fully at least, as that would be detrimental to the symbiotic relationship they shared.

Still coming here usually calmed his nerves, yet he could not help but feel an impending sense of dread. Since this morning the insects had been agitated, in a way that he had only seen once before on his first day at the was like a foreign chakra was permeating the air, it was something to be wary of.

But be that as it may, it was time to depart. And he had no intention of letting his nerves get the best of him... not today.

* * *

Shortly after meeting up with her Sensei and her team, Hinata was eager to find out where they needed to go for the exam. As it turned out the first stage of the exam was set to commence across multiple locations in the village.

As it turned out Team 8 were headed back to the academy for their portion of the exam.

As they approached the academy they were directed to a building off to the far side of the campus. Eventually they found themselves standing outside of a door when their sensei spoke.

"Get ready," Kurenai said as she observed her Genin. "The first phase of your exam is on the other side of this door."

"Sensei," Kiba said attracting her attention. "What's the first phase going to be, can you give us any intel?"

She was pleased that her most brash pupil had thought to ask for more information rather than charging in. "It's simple really, all you need to do is go in that room and walk out of the door on the other side."

"Just walk through a door?" Kiba queried.

"Just walk through a door," she confirmed.

Kurenai noticed Kiba studying her face intently before he spoke, "What's the catch?"

With a cheeky grin Kurenai responded, "That's for me to know and you to find out, now if you will excuse me I have my own room to proctor," she said before disappearing in the Shunshin's signature waft of leaves.

With that team 8 were left alone in the hallway, the only sounds being Kiba's grunts of irritation as he complained that Kurenai could at least have given them some information to go on.

"Um, Kiba-kun," Hinata gestured as she tried to placate her teammate. "Sensei did give us something to work with," She said getting a look of confusion from her teammate.

"Hinata is correct," Shino chimed in. "Why? Because Sensei mentioned that she was off to proctor this stage of the exam,"

"That's right," Hinata continued. "It stands to reason that we would also have someone proctoring our portion of the exam. And if our goal is to reach the door at the end of the next room, whoever our proctor is will likely be our opposition." She summarised.

 **By carefully examining the clues provided your intelligence has increased by 1**

"Ah I get it, so we should probably plan ahead before going into there," Kiba suggested.

"Yes, but to do so we must first find out who is in there," Said Shino.

* * *

Kakashi was bored. He had heard noises coming from the other side of the door and assumed it was time to start the exam. However the muffled whispering stopped and there had only been silence for the last half hour.

It was strange, he would have been alerted if the team had decided to forfeit, but that would have been odd without even entering the room.

Well, it wasn't his problem he sighed as he flipped out a little orange book. It wasn't the special edition, but he couldn't help himself from buying a copy anyway. It had only just come out and he couldn't wait until he won the bet before reading it, what if he had gotten spoilers.

Shuddering at the thought he almost missed the door opening as team 8 entered.

"Hmm, you're late," he mused as he wondered if this was how his team felt.

"Correction," Shino said as he adjusted his glasses. "We were never given a timeframe in which the test must occur; therefore it must be amenable for us to make preparations."

"Plus 5 points," Kakashi said jokingly as he approved of their foresight.

"Well I'm sure you already know," he drawled, his eye never once leaving the book, "all you need to do to pass the first phase of this exam is to walk through the door right behind me," he said whilst gesturing with his thumb.

"I suppose you're not going to let us just pass right, Kakashi sensei?" Kiba asked.

Tilting his head to the side Kakashi's lone visible eye did what team 8 could only interpret as a sarcastic smile.

"Well so much for that idea," Kiba grumbled.

"Well, feel free to come at me whenever you're ready," Kakashi said as he went back to his book.

 **STORY QUEST CREATED**

 **A SCARECROW BLOCKS YOUR WAY**

 **OBJCTIVE: Make it past Kakashi and complete the first phase of the Chunin exam**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Exploit Kakashi's weakness**

 **MAIN REWARD: 2000 exp**

 **BONUS REWARD: 1 perk point, 100 reputation with Hatake Kakashi**

 **Y/N**

By some unspoken communication, Hinata, Kiba and Shino simultaneously leapt forward in a full frontal attack.

Dashing forward in a triangle shaped formation team 8 closed in on Kakashi. Kiba made up the tip of the formation being the most overtly physical, while Hinata and Shino flanked at the side.

Without even hesitating Kakashi's free hand blurred as he managed to simultaneously quickly and lazily launch a volley of kunai directly into team 8's path.

Several wet thunks reverberated throughout the room, Kakashi raised a lone eyebrow as he momentarily shifted his attention from his book to the scene before him.

All of his thrown Kunai found themselves embedded in the chests of the Genin running towards him.

"Cute," he muttered as the three figures exploded into a shower of various Kikaichu insects that flooded the room obscuring his view.

The only indication Kakashi received of the incoming attack was a whirling sound that permeated the air. Through the dense cloud of insects a spinning tunnel of death came hurtling towards him.

"Impressive speed, but far too hasty," he chided as chakra began to build up in his hand.

"Counter clockwise rotation should do the trick,"

Kiba's **Tsuga** (Passing Fang) ripped through the air on a collision course with their masked proctor, only for Kakashi to raise his hand up to catch the incoming Inuzuka right out of the air.

Kiba felt himself impact his target and attempted to continue drilling forward, but all of a sudden he felt his momentum being arrested as his rotations slowed.

"What?" he barked in confusion as he felt himself coming to a stop.

" **Rasengan,"** (Spiralling Sphere) Kakashi informed as Kiba came to a stop in his palm. "Not a bad plan using the bugs to cover your attack but all I needed to do was counter your rotation with a more powerful counter for-"He began as he swiftly dropped his precious book lashing out his other hand.

Caught in his vice like grip was a dainty hand absolutely glowing with chakra.

"Not cute, not cute at all," he said as he peered down at Hinata who was within striking range.

" _Using the shadow of the Tsuga to launch their attack, clever plan. If I hadn't seen Naruto and Sasuke do something similar in Wave then they might have even scored a hit,"_ Kakashi thought to himself.

With a flick of his wrists, Kakashi sent Kiba and Hinata careening through the air through the retracting swarm of bugs into their third teammate.

" _Well they have already shown enough competencies for me to pass them, but what's the harm in seeing what else they can do."_

XXXXXXXXXX

Slowly picking herself up Hinata eyed their opponent warily. Kakashi was busy dusting off his favourite book seemingly without a care in the world.

She thought their ploy with the **Mushi Bunshin** (insect clone) would have been effective, but clearly Kakashi was a Jounin for a reason. Despite their clearly laid out plan Kakashi had seen through their ploy, they would have to step things up if they hoped to get past him.

As she glanced around she noticed Kiba and Shino sit up. Kiba appeared to have landed badly and was holding his side with a wince; Shino appeared ruffled but otherwise unharmed.

Once they were all on their feet Hinata received a small nod of confirmation from the boys as they once more flung themselves into the fray.

Kiba and Akamaru launched themselves forward Kiba going low while Akamaru went high. Snapping his book shut once more Kakashi parried Kiba's low strike with his left leg and caught Akamaru's charge with his hand.

In the moment when he was occupied with defence Hinata and Shino let loose a volley of Kunai aimed at the opening that had been created. The combined assault of Kiba and Akamaru's taijutsu and Hinata and Shino's weapons were enough to break through that small opening. Kakashi's body was peppered with sharpened metal before slumping down in front of the door.

"Wait that worked," Kiba exclaimed in confusion.

Seeing the stunned looks of his team, Kiba took a few tentative steps forward to inspect the body.

"Kiba-kun don't!" Hinata cried as Kiba approached Kakashi's prone form.

At Hinata's shout Kiba instinctively leapt back just as two arms sprouted up from the floor attempting to grab him by the legs.

With a poof the body at the far side of the room dispelled revealing it to be a shadow clone. "Good reflexes," came a smooth voice as a head with gravity defying grey hair sprouted from the flooring.

"Heh, maybe your just getting slow," Kiba bragged, however despite how he tried to play the incident off he couldn't help but feel shaken at how easily he had fallen for that ruse.

" _When did he make the switch...It must have been when he launched us across the room, that was fast"_ Hinata reasoned.

"Slow huh," Kakashi mocked before his form blurred from view.

Before they could mount any sort of defence Kiba found himself pressed face first into the floor with a Kunai pressed against his neck.

Instinctively Hinata took a step forward in order to help her friend, but was stopped dead as Kakashi tutted like one might do to a disobedient child.

"Uh, uh," he chided. "That wouldn't be wise, what would happen if my arm were to slip," he motioned as he increased his pressure creating a tiny cut along Kiba's throat. A few beads of blood dripped down the edge of the kunai giving its steely face an even more frightening visage.

"Now, you're clearly in over your head, why don't you take this opportunity to quit now, before you disappoint me any further."

"Grrrr, arf!" Akamaru howled, taking exception to his partner being manhandled. Kakashi turned to look at the pup and levelled an even stare at him which caused Akamaru to whine as he dashed behind Hinata's leg.

They were in a bind; Hinata knew they would not be able to react faster than Kakashi could draw the blade across Kiba's throat. They needed an opening, and she thought she could give them one... assuming it worked.

Placing her hands p in the air Hinata made a placating gesture. Kakashi narrowed his lone eye as he watched for deception.

While her hands were visible Hinata pulled up her inventory, with a few light brushes of her fingertips, which to Kakashi appeared like a nervous tick she selected the item she wanted.

In the space between them a smoke bomb popped into existence causing Kakashi's eye to widen in surprise. As the bomb hit the floor the room was engulfed in smoke.

At this time Kakashi had let go of Kiba and set about disrupting his own chakra network, to his increasing confusion he found that he was not trapped in a genjutsu.

However while everyone else's vision was obscured Hinata activated her Byakugan. Activating chakra flow Hinata stepped forward with as much speed as she could muster.

"You are within the range of my divination," she said calmly as she lashed out with her first two strikes.

Kakashi winced as he felt his right arm go numb as he felt two quick pricks, it was very much like being stung by a bee... well if the bee was 4ft tall and hit like a hammer.

As Hinata was about to make contact with her next series of blows she felt an arm close around her wrists.

With her Byakugan active she could see the satisfied look on Kakashi's face as he thwarted her attack.

In this brief interchange she noticed that he flooded his other arm with chakra, flexing it as the feeling returned.

However through the smoke a clawed hand came streaking towards Kakashi's exposed side. Kiba did not need to rely on his sight to attack and had used this opening as best he could.

With his free arm Kakashi intercepted the blow by grabbing Kiba's forearm. Fortunately for Kiba the arm was still recovering, so the momentum of the blow meant Kiba's claws sank approximately half a centimetre into Kakashi's flak jacket.

Hinata saw an influx of chakra build up in Kakashi's throat as he let loose a gust of wind that dispersed the remaining smoke.

"Well, well... to actually land a hit on me twice, I must be getting rusty," Kakashi smiled as his grip tightened on the two genin.

"Now the question is, how do you plan to get to the door if you can't escape my grip?"

Hinata wanted to panic, their whole plan revolved around catching him off guard. They really only had one more option, but she had hoped it would not come to that.

It was at that moment that Hinata saw Kakashi look puzzled, and then worried as Shino stepped forward.

"And then Natsuko could bear it no longer, she felt as if her flesh was on fire as her lust overtook her," Shino read out in a monotone voice.

"Slowly she felt her satin gown slip down her body, the shimmering material caressing her supple form as it fell," Shino continued as Hinata felt her face begin to burn scarlet.

"No, no, no!" Kakashi wailed as he let go of their wrists to plug his ears.

Shino responded by walking forward and holding the open pages up in front of Kakashi's face, causing the man to reflexively close his eyes to avoid spoilers.

It was only a few seconds later when he heard a door click did he realise his mistake. As he turned he saw team 8 standing by the open door.

"Not cute, not cute at all," he grumbled.

 **STORY QUEST COMPLETED**

 **A SCARECROW BLOCKS YOUR WAY**

 **OBJCTIVE: Make it past Kakashi and complete the first phase of the Chunin exam**

 **BONUS OBJECTIVE: Exploit Kakashi's weakness**

 **MAIN REWARD: 2000 exp**

 **BONUS REWARD: 1 perk point, 100 reputation with Hatake Kakashi**

"Is it over?" Kiba panted from his position in the doorway.

"Yes it's over, you pass. I'm actually quite impressed. You demonstrated a wide array of tactics, and even had a secondary plan in case your initial attempt failed. Most Genin don't think to prepare and don't consider that no time restraints were given."

" _It looks like I might actually lose that bet, damn you Kurenai. You swindler, you didn't say your Genin were even close to being this good."_

"Anyway head down the hall and enter the main auditorium," Kakashi said as he pointed out the door.

Team 8 gave a quick bow before scurrying out the door,

"Oh, and by the way. You may want to deactivate your Byakugan if you mean to keep it a secret," came Kakashi's voice echoing down the hall.

* * *

As they entered the main auditorium Hinata struggled to keep her furious blush under control. When the smoke cleared she had completely forgotten to deactivate her eyes, she was just thankful that Kakashi had no intention of outing her yet.

Inside the room she spotted two tams waiting, the first was team Guy. Tenten gave them a friendly wave as they entered the room.

However when the second team noticed their presence Hinata felt a wave of killing intent was over her.

Looking around to find the source Hinata felt, she found it was emanating from a mousey looking boy that looked a couple of years older than herself. He had brown hair and completely unremarkable features, save for the sneer etched onto his face.

Not recognising him, Hinata decided to observe him to find out more.

 **Name: Ido**

 **Title: The Darkness That Lies Within**

 **Level: 13**

 **HP: 175/175**

 **CP: 800/800**

 **Strength: 10**

 **Dexterity: 25**

 **Agility: 15**

 **Vitality: 7**

 **Intelligence: 45**

 **Wisdom: 22**

 **Charisma: 0**

 **Status**

 **Civilian**

 **Description**

 **An unknown combatant in the Chunin exam, Ido has entered as a contestant for Konoha and has a great hatred for Yuhi Kurenai and all those associated with her.**

 **Jutsu**

 **?**

Hinata didn't know who Ido was, but she felt as if she was going to find out... sooner or later.

 **Authors Notes**

 **Hello everyone, I have braved the wilderness in order to bring you a new chapter. But in all seriousness sorry about the delay but life has been extremely hectic and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.**

 **As to why I have been MIA, well I was supposed to be getting a promotion at work along with another colleague and unfortunately we were stringed along for a couple of months before the scrapped the position. In addition to that I have been trying to buy my first place and the sale fell through because the sellers were hiding some unfortunate details so that also ate up a few months. this last month one of my colleagues handed in their notice so I am once more doing 3 peoples jobs at the moment.**

 **On the plus side I have now found a new place to buy that is better than the last place and I am going through the legal stuff at the moment, so with any luck in July I will own a house.**

 **What this means for the story is that updates will likely be slow till that completes, though I hope to get more content out before that point.**

 **As usual a big thanks to my Beta who had not given up on me. And a big thanks to all of you guys for your kind words of encouragement via reviews and PM's.**

 **Like always please let me know what you think of this chapter.**

 **See you next time!**


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